Dark Dwellings
by gingervora
Summary: Jack Overland is recruited by the Guardians for the rescue of a little girl, after spending the past few years on the run from his own past. Having been invisible, unknown, he accepts the job. Not long after that is he put back on the map and the group being targeted along with him by none other than the man who ruined everything: Pitch. RoTG criminal AU. Rainbow Snowcone.
1. Introduction

**With Anna...**

Fingers darted over the sleek keyboard, typing away as fast as one could. "Frost, are you in position?" Only the light of the screen illuminated her facial features, the windowless van void of any light aside from her equipment that lined the inside of the vehicle like wallpaper. Her cocoa skin looked a sickly yellow from the light of her computer and her long eyelashes were almost motionless, like she didn't have the time to waste on blinking.

"Frost?" She spoke into her headset. Her voice felt hollow in the van without a response from her companion. Static filled the line and her heart thumped painfully, her entire being aching for a response.

A few crackles and some shuffling sounded through the piece until it went silent for a moment. "I'm in position Tooth," Jack told her.

"Bunny?" Anna called for, her purple eyes scanning the data on her computer. "North? Ready?"

"Don't worry, package will be delivered on time," Nick answered with their code, his Russian accent heavy. She felt obliged to let out a sigh of relief. Only a week of planning and they only had one shot at this. Everything had to go perfectly.

Aster let out a long, irritated sigh as a response and the soft drum of thuds managed to sound itself through his ear set. He was tapping his foot again, oh how that frustrated her. "Do we really need the cooler?" _Do we really need Jack_ it translated into.

"Of course we do," Nick heartily replied.

"Whatever. I just don't think we need another piece of _luggage _to worry about," Aster complained.

"Alright, Bunny, North, this is where you two split up. You know the drill. Go." The darkness of the van seemed to creep over her, her anxiety spiking up. Her only way to communicate was through her headset and keeping tabs on all of the team through GPS until Nick got her hooked up into the main system. Her plan was perfect, but their situation less so. Anything could go wrong and everything could be ruined if she had looked over something or she had expected too much from her teammates. In theory, everything could go great. Everything would be fine, but this was not theory anymore. This was real.

With a few buttons on her keyboard, Nick and Aster's mics went dead and it was just her and Jack.

"Frost..." she whispered longingly.

"Tooth, don't worry. I've got their backs. Your plan is flawless. Everything will be fine, okay?" His words didn't exactly put her mind to ease, but it was enough to lower her anxiety a tad.

"You don't think-"

"Sandman won't let us down. Just you see." From his tone, she could tell that he wore that trademark smirk of his but she knew all too well he was just as worried as her.

"I'm going to keep the line up, but keep radio silence unless your position has been compromised."

A long silence lingered through the mics before he replied with a simple, "Alright."

**With Aster...**

The lobby was big, as the building took up an entire block. The entire place felt dark and hopeless, sending chills down Aster's spine. With sleek black walls and tiled floors and violent sculptures that littered the grounds, it was a surprise employees didn't die from fear for being trapped in here during their shifts. It was like a cage.

"See you when this all goes down," Aster said and waved at the dark haired man before nonchalantly moving his hand to his ear to remove his earpiece and letting it drop to the ground.

"Have luck, good friend," Nick, a tall dark haired man in his early thirties, told him before wrapping his friend in a life threatening hug. It felt like hours before Aster was able to breath but it had only been a few short seconds of painful longing for air. Quickly, as not to waste anymore time, they parted in opposite directions. Whereas he headed towards the elevator, Nick made his way across the lobby. Visual contact only lasted so long as the man disappeared behind the mass of people coming and going, paying absolutely no attention to the tall man dressed as a janitor.

He took a step into the elevator, half expecting security to be all over him, to invade the small space and throw him to the police - or worse, to his enemies. No such thing happened. Ha! And he thought Anna was being too worrisome over the whole endeavour. They were the best! No one could beat them, and especially not him.

Aster's grip on his suitcase tightened, the contents of the case suddenly feeling like a hundred pounds. "Good golly," he complained with his green eyes fixed on the floor level. Third floor, fourth floor, fifth floor, sixth floor... It didn't stop until the eighteenth floor, the top level.

Every moment seemed too painful to wait through, imagining himself up this high. He ended up with his back to the wall of the moving room and held his head in his hands. No- his fear of heights had to wait. He tugged at his collar, adjusted his gray suit jacket and straightened his tie, anything to keep his mind occupied.

The mission came first, he repeated over and over again as if it would make him feel less dizzy. When the doors opened, he spilled out into the hallway, thankful to not be escalating anymore. Well, calling it a hallway was something of a courtesy. It was barely bigger than the elevator - which had already been called for down below and far away from his rescue- and far too fancy to even be related to a hallway. The almost black dark colored wood ran up and down and the floor was golden, shining under the dim light of the bulbs on the walls.

Three knocks at the door and out called a voice, one he loathed and despised for ages. "Come in, Edward Aster Hare. Hare, is it now?"

Aster gritted his teeth, forcing himself to remain calm as he looked upon his old enemy. Charcoal black hair pulled back, matching his midnight color suit and tie. The only thing not of a dark color were his skin, a pale white, and his eyes, yellow and hungry like a predator who had just found itself a small snack. "Where is the girl, Pitch?"

"What's the rush?" the main said. "Why not have some tea first? We should never skip the pleasantries."

"Not this time."

Pitch remained calm and smooth as he crossed his office space to a small kitchen where he poured himself a glass of water, sipping it ever so slowly, grating at Aster's patience.

"I assume you've brought what I've _requested_?" the sly man asked, the last word chimed like it had been a request at all and not at all blackmail, a threat, a ransom.

"Not until I have the girl."

"No, no, Aster, I don't believe that's how this is done."

"Look here, Pitch," Aster said more calmly than he thought he would sound and it knocked some sense into him. He couldn't lose his cool, not if this was going to work. He had to remain calm and do his part. "I came here for one thing and one thing only."

"Hm, how about this? Indulge me for a few moments and we'll have our trade."

"Fine."

"Glad we could come to an understanding." Aster could only stand and watch as Pitch trailed back to his desk. "E. Aster Hare, infiltration specialist, wanted for stolen information and smuggling. Nicholas St. Claus, high time thief, wanted-"

"Hey!" What was this? What on Earth was he doing this for?

He carried on as if Aster hadn't made a noise, "-for priceless art pieces, breaking and entering high security buildings, etcetera. Anna les Dents, hacker, wanted for tampering with military files and compromising locations of those in the witness protection program. Sanders Wilkinson, con-man, wanted for... well, that obvious." He pushed aside the files on his desk. "Now why should I cooperate with you?"

"You kidnapped a little girl. You wanted the ransom, we have it," Aster said, walking up to the desk and dropping the suitcase on it without care.

Pitch dragged the case over to his side, undoing the latches before Aster's hand pushed the top down to keep it from opening.

"The girl," he demanded. Anna's plan would only work if he kept his time.

"Fine, fine!" Pitch exasperatedly sighed. With a snap of his fingers, a hidden door opened and a small girl tumbled out, a tall dark suited man at both her sides. "Let the girl go," he told them, uninterested in anything else but the case on his desk, knowing Aster couldn't go anywhere without the elevator, which wouldn't be coming for a while.

The gray-brown haired man swooped down and picked up the light brown girl that ran his way, her eyes red from crying and her grip on him very tight which almost ruined the wonder she held in her eyes, one purple like her sister's, the other blue for whatever reason.

"You have what you want, we're going," Aster stated matter-of-factly as he turned around and made his way out of the office. Pitch didn't react and neither did his guards. They stood at the entrance to the hidden door, unmoving, unnerved. It seemed a bit too... smooth of a transaction. This wasn't like Pitch. He jabbed the DOWN button on the elevator with his thumb several times and his ears perked at the sound of the latches being undone on the suitcase and he closed his eyes, waiting for what would happen next.

"Come on, come on," he whispered to the elevator. As if on que, the doors openend and he hopped inside. "Thank God." The elevator didn't even close when it began to descend at a surprisingly fast pace. "Tooth!" he shouted, only remembering then that he had tossed his ear piece. Nick had managed to hook Anna into the controls, but what was she thinking, making it go this fast? He bet Jack messed something up.

"Bunny," the girl whined, holding onto him tighter and he instantly forgot his own fears.

"It's al'ight little one, you'll see your sister soon enough," he cooed, smoothing down her chocolate hair. "Sorry we were late, Tina. Ice cream on me."

Tina wrapped her arms around his neck and her fingers matted themselfs into his hair. It could have been his imagination or the fact he was mostly paying attention to the elevator, but he swore he heard a stifled giggle from the tiny girl.

A thundering noise shook the building only moments before the elevator landed on the main floor. Chaos erupted but was quickly calmed down. Police began to pull up around the building.

_Thank God,_ he thought to himself. Good, good, even Sanders came through. Though, at the time, Aster had thought it to be the most unneeded part of the plan, he began to see why. Security that had been heading towards him was swept into the current of the crowd. Even if they did get to him, they wouldn't be able to do anything with the police around.

How Sanders actually managed to get the police to head out before the explosion even happened was beyond him, but he was thankful - for the first time - of what that man could do.

**With Jack...**

Jack watched through his scope, two buildings away from the headquarters of CEO Hans Pitch of Security Cooperations. "Tooth, Bunny's delivered the package. Send up the elevator." The teen watched as a girl stumbled out, a striking resemblance to the girl that had contacted him for his help.

No response through the line, leaving himself to his own thoughts. But keeping his mouth shut for long wasn't his forte. "It's your sister, isn't it?" he asked.

"Frost, radio silence," she told him. He could hear the taps on her keyboard very clearly. He really shouldn't distract her but he wanted to hear her voice.

"What did Boogeyman want?" he asked. Anna let out a long sigh before she answered.

"Files. On my fairies." _Her informants._ Another long pause. "Alright Frost, wait 'til my signal."

Jack wrapped his finger around the trigger, moving his sniper rifle into position, watching as the man pulled out the files from the case, going over them with some sick pride.

"Go."

He fired and it was barely a moment before his bullet collided with the gas pipe in Pitch's personal kitchen. The gas was let out. Jack quickly loaded the rifle and fired once more, igniting the gas. Jack looked upon Pitch's surprised face for a moment with satisfaction, seeing the man scared, outwitted.

"The police are coming," he told her as soon as he saw the flashing lights, and was taken back when he heard her voice come through the line.

"Thank you."

He figured from the moment he met her that she didn't want to sit on the side lines, that she wanted to actively help, that this wasn't her forte to sit around despite her profession but she was too well known nowadays for her to be out and about.

"North is back," she told him. "Bringing the sleigh around after Bunny comes." Jack grunted in response as he immediately worked to pack up his belongings.

"Good work, Frost," said the affectionate Russian man in the background from Anna's headset.

Jack laughed. "Thanks big man."

**Later...**

A ring of laughter chimed in the air of the small, damp apartment. It wasn't the best place to be by far, but it was enough to call home even if for a few moments. "Good to see you!" Jack exclaimed as he picked up Tina, swinging her around and she continued to laugh.

Aster scoffed. "You're such a kid."

"Hey, I'm eighteen!" Jack pouted, hugging Tina tightly who pouted as well, even fluttering her eyes.

"Barely!"

"Doesn't change the fact I'm still eighteen." The arguing seemed to distract him from the fact Tina was now tugging at his white hair.

"Are you old?" she innocently asked as she compared her dark brown hair to his.

Anna scowled at their bickering and walked forward to relieve her sister from Jack. Tina giggled, kissing her sister on the cheek. "Are you alright?" she asked.

"Yes," Tina whined, this being the -what?- fifth time the question was asked.

"Can't we have some peace for five minutes?" she asked, rolling her eyes at the boys when Aster threw his chair.

"Fine, fine, I'll be the bigger man here. Aster, I admit that I still act like a kid," Jack sarcastically said as he doubled over with a deep bow.

"Hey, no! I'm the better man. I apologize for calling you a kid!" Sanders tried to calm the two from their argumentative apologizing but to no avail as they ignored him like he wasn't even there.

If it was possible for the conversation to take that kind of turn, it happened. Anna took a seat at the dimly lit table with Nick. "Thank you," she said to him. "I wouldn't've been able to do this without you."

"No," he modestly waved the compliment away. "Your plan." He reached over and picked up Tina. "Plan was good, we won."

"No quite," a metallic voice said behind them.

Everyone stopped what they were doing, turning to Anna's computer screen where Pitch's scarred and burned face showed itself.

"Impossible," the woman breathed as she rushed to her computer. She tried to get rid of him but her computer wouldn't respond. A thought came to her, to simply turn off the computer but if Pitch managed to get past all her firewalls and defences set up to keep her work safe, she doubted just turning it off would stop him.

"Nice trick you had back there, but it will take more than that to take me out. Costed me one of my favorite bodyguards," he complained as one might to losing a toy they got at McDonalds.

"Seems like I have one more to add to my little dossier," said, picking up a file and showing it towards his camera, to them. On it was Jack's picture. "Jack Overland, marksman, wanted for the murder of his sister."


	2. Revelations

It seemed that the intention of Pitch contacting them was not to relay on information. No, it was something far more sinister: he wanted to seperate him from the group, to push the Guardians far away from him. With the looks he recieved, it seemed he got what he wanted.

Anna's computer screen flickered before going blank and then all eyes turned to Jack who had frozen in place. His hands rose to catch the chair Aster had thrown at him before Pitch had reared his ugly face.

"You _murdered_ your _sister_?" Aster spat at him, his eyes narrowed. The man turned to Anna, who held her sister tightly, surprised by the news that had just been delivered. "Anna, he needs to go. We might not have the most legal professions, but we don't kill. And we will not abide with murderers." _And she's the one who hired them;_ she knew everyone was thinking that. A hacker, an information broker, and she hadn't caught the detail that he was a murderer before hiring him.

"I-It's not what you think," Jack began, having set down the chair and his hands raised defensively. The meaning of it was lost as he took a step back, pressured under their gazes as they moved from Anna back to him. "I can explain."

Aster strode towards the white haired teen, towering over him. "I don't want your excuses." Jack looked up, a look of deep rooted fear in his blue eyes and a dark expression on his features.

"Stop!" Anna yelled at the two. "Aster!" she scolded, passing Tina to Nick before storming up to the graying man. "Does that look like the face of someone that could kill his own family?"

Aster didn't remove his steady gaze from the boy for a few moments, but when he did turn to Anna he relaxed. "Whatever," he murmured, "But don't expect me to work with him. I didn't even want him here to begin with." He stormed off, leaving the main room of the apartment for a slightly less miserable room down the hall, shutting the door loudly behind him like a child with a tantrum.

Anna looked back at Jack. "I'm sorry about him-"

"No, he's right," Jack admitted, refusing to meet her gaze. "And Pitch is right, too." He dared a glance towards the other three, Tina, Nick and Sanders watching the events unfold before them motionlessly.

"But you said-"

"Like he said, they're excuses," Jack sighed, shoving his hands into his jacket pockets. "Look, you hired me for the job. Thanks for having me, but I can't bring you into my mess. I'll leave in the morning."

"_Jack,_" Anna said. "You don't have to. We all have a history, good or bad. I'm sure it isn't as bad as it sounds." She reached out to take his hand but he snapped it away when her fingers brushed against his.

"Anna is right," Nick finally offered, taking a few steps forward to stand beside the broker. "I once killed someone for art." Everyone knew it wasn't the whole truth, just something to make him feel better and it didn't work.

"No, it is as bad as it sounds. I did kill my sister," he managed to choke out. "I'll leave in the morning." Jack pivoted on his heel as he made his way towards his room. Well, his and Sander's room that they had shared for the last week while he held his contract to the group. He thought that maybe - just maybe - he could stay with them, not having to pack up and move on again. He thought that he had covered his tracks well, a new identity and everything but apparently that wasn't enough.

The teen didn't even bother to take off his shoes, much less get properly dressed for bed, before he threw himself down on the springy mattress, shutting his eyes and hoping for sleep but then the door opened - he could hear it - and felt a (what he was sure was meant to be) reassuring grip on his shoulder. He rolled over on his back to see Sanders with a concerned look.

Before he met the man, he had a sure image of a con man in his head: tall, handsome, intimidating and a way with words. Sanders was almost nothing like that. He was short, even shorter than Jack, had combed back blond hair and golden eyes and barely spoke. He just sort of emitted this presence that let people know what he wanted, what he needed. It was almost scary how good he was without even trying.

"Thanks, Sandy, but..." Jack couldn't finish the sentence. What would he say? That he was doing them a favor by leaving? That they wouldn't want him, even if they said otherwise? "Good night."

**The next morning...**

Jack's bag seemed tiny and weightless on his back, filled with a few "liberated" credit cards, a change of clothes, a hand gun, an mp3 player and false identification. In his right hand he gripped tightly at the case that carried his disassembled sniper rifle. Despite the lack of weight, everything that he posed on him felt twice as- no, three times as heavy as he tried to leave.

His blue eyes glanced over at Sanders, who slept soundly. It looked like he was having a nice dream. Jack sighed. He couldn't recall the last time he had dreamed anything.

He tiptoed out of the room and down the hall, thankful for the concrete flooring as he didn't have to worry about loose boards that would wake any light sleeper. A single door stood in his way from leaving the lives of the Guardians and it wasn't very impressive just a slab of wood that hadn't even been sanded down and the handle barely stayed on.

"Jack," he heard a young voice yawn behind him Tina had moved just as quietly as him across the apartment. He hadn't even expected her to be up this early in the morning. "You're not actually leaving, are you?"

The words broke his heart, coming from her. He gazed at her nostalgically; she looked about the age Emma had before she... before she... He shook the thought.

Jack lowered his belongings to the ground softly and knelt down next to the girl. "Yeah, I have to go," he told her softly, barely above a whisper.

Tina looked up at him, her blue and purple eyes looking at him sadly. "Do you not like us?" she asked him and she looked genuinely hurt that he was leaving despite the fact he only knew her for a short time.

"That's not it," he consoled, smoothing down her hair. "I love all of you."

"So why don't you stay?"

His mouth hung open, ready for an excuse to pour out but he couldn't bring himself to lie to the little girl. He kissed her forehead and stood up. "You look tired. Go get some rest." She nodded and with an encouraging push she shuffled her way back to her room that she shared with Anna.

"Great," he whispered to himself. "I'm trying to do the right thing and everyone is making this so hard."

Before he knew it, he was gripping the handle to pull open the door and silently closing it behind him. Snow covered the ground in splotches, most of it having melted. How he would miss winter so.

Jack began his walk down the shady neighborhood, gripping his possessions tightly. The place gave him the creeps: none of the lamps actually working except for one that cautiously flickered, dogs that barked at him as he passed, unkempt lawns with junk scattered across them and immobile cars littering the driveways. It felt like the perfect place for an ambush with so many hiding places and varied grounds.

A few hours passed and he found himself many blocks away from the neighborhood and on the outskirts of the downtown area, resting in a Starbucks with his hood over his head, a cup of hot tea in his hands and slouched in one of the armchairs.

"Did you hear about that bombing," he could hear a duo of girls gossiping, "yesterday? The police won't give any information about it! Ugh, we deserve to know." Then they began on some conspiracy theories that did seem plausible in some light but Jack tuned himself out, only hearing Tina's voice from this morning.

He tugged at his hood, pulling it over his eyes. Going back seemed like the best idea in the world, but he knew it would only put the others in trouble - well, more trouble, at least - and he just couldn't stand it if they got hurt. Yeah, he hurt some people, even killed a few but those were calculated targets, usually the bad guys, that kind of thing. It wasn't like he was a mercenary trying to sell himself to anyone that paid well.

When he finished his tea, he tossed the cup in the garbage and took himself and his things out the door, wondering where to go, what to do next. Maybe he could head west, to Portland or Seattle, and find a few new targets; corrupt business men and politicians, thieves, gangs, the like.

Jack's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of sirens. He whipped his head around to find the source of the noise, barely catching the glimpse of a police car passing by. No- several police cars. They... they couldn't be heading to the apartment, could they? Perhaps Pitch tipped them off. He scolded himself silently; he couldn't afford to be so paranoid. Maybe it was a bank robbery or a hostage situation elsewhere in the city.

He paused in his steps (a stupid move as all it did was get him shoved around by the other people on the side walk trying to get past him). There was only one way to know for sure. He went back the way he came, rounding around the blocks. They wouldn't send everyone on one mission so there had to be another police car around here somewhere.

It took longer than he liked, but he found one parked on the side of a busy street. With more bad luck, the two cops also sat inside the car. He'd have to lure them out somehow. A quick scan of the area found a jewelry store. Not an ideal place, but it wouldn't be too heavily guarded.

Jack headed around to the back, stashing his backpack, case and taking off his hoodie, hiding them behind a trash can. All he needed would be to cause a panic, something to get the police's attention. The back door was locked and he didn't have any of the means to pick the lock, but he couldn't go through the front door as they were to have security cameras and the last thing he needed was footage of himself for the cops to use, putting even more of a bounty on his head.

"Help! Help!" Jack yelled, banging on the back door. For moment, he was unsure they would fall for the ruse but the door opened to show a tall girl with short brown hair. She looked confused, seeing no signs of struggle, only Jack. "Sorry," he apologized before swiftly moving his arm, elbow first, at her, hitting her square in the temple. She slumped to the ground. "Sorry," he said again, wincing at the sight and hoping it wouldn't leave too much of a sore when she woke up.

He wandered around in the back, aimlessly looking for the circuit breaker. To his luck, none of the other employees were in the back but out front helping with the crowd of customers this fine Saturday. Before long, he found the control panel though it was locked, that was an easy fix but he'd need to be quick about it.

Jack searched the room for a heavy object to try and break the lock with before he realized about the unconscious girl out back who might have keys on her. It felt demeaning to look through her possessions while she was unconscious.

"Score," he breathed as he found the keys in her pockets and ran back, unlocking the breaker and turning off everything, then opening the door to the front of the store, a few people already freaking out. With one last move to cause more of a scene, he smashed the nearest display case, thrusting his elbow down on the glass. "EVERYONE OUT!" Jack yelled. "THIS IS A ROBBERY."

Without a moment to lose, he sprinted out back and around the block to see the crowd of people running from the building. The cops only a block down from the scene got out of their car and ran on down, talking into their walkie-talkies as Jack joined the masses running away stopping to get inside the car though it had been locked.

"Not again," he said with a roll of his eyes, throwing his elbow against the glass to break it, unlocking the door and hopping in. The teen sunk in his seat, hoping no one would stop to notice him hiding out in the cop's car.

"All nearby police to Third Street and Tenth Street, power outage and supposed robbery," the radio said. Great, his commotion was going to block out any other news. As he opened the door to leave, the message changed. "We're receiving resistance from Overland's cohorts. Requesting backup."

Were they resisting? Jack managed to stop himself from hitting himself out of pure idiocy. Of course they wouldn't cooperate; they were just as much criminals of the law as he was.

He headed back to pick up his stuff but the cops surrounded the place and he couldn't get anywhere close to where he had stashed his stuff. "Damn it," he cursed. At the time, he hid his stuff so it wouldn't slow himself down but there wasn't enough time. He doubled back to the cop car, hoping he still remembered how to hotwire.

**With Anna...**

"Aster! What did you do?!" she yelled at the man who was barricading the front doors and windows.

"Police showed up at our front door asking for Overland. We don't have him so they threatened to come in and search. With your stuff everywhere, if they came in it'd be the end for us. So I. uh, told them to screw off." Her eyes drifted to the gun on the floor.

"And you think that 'telling' them to go away wouldn't give anything away either? Did you tell them to come back with a warrant?" Anna asked. Aster looked away shyly.

"Like that would do us any good! If we were gone, they'd send people after us anyways!"

"We'd be better off on the- oh nevermind. We've got to get out now while we still have a chance. Make sure I have enough time to finish up around here," she ordered as she pushed past Nick and Sanders.

"Tina, tina," she called, finding her sister not too far away. "Go hide, under the bed like we practiced."

The last thing she heard was Nick sounding off orders and making fun of Aster before she tuned everything out as she began to disassemble her computers. Next thing she knew, she had Sanders shaking her.

"What? What's going on?" Anna said after a few blinks to refocus her eyes.

"We are running out of ammo. And time. Anna, you gonna take what you can, nothing more," Nick told her.

"No! I can't," she tried to tell him, but he was heading to the front of the apartment and focused on anything but her complaints. "My... my hardware, my computers."

"W-Wait," Nick called out. "It seems, uh, they are dropping."

Sanders held up his hands in confusion and even Aster stared dumbly out a hole in the window.

Three knocks tapped at the door, an oddly normal thing compared to the situation at hand.

"Who is... it?" Anna answered uncertainly. Aster gave her a scornful look and she shrugged at him like _what else is there to do?_

"It's... uh, Frost!"

Anna didn't think she moved any faster in her life than that one second it took her to reach the door and throw it open.

**Later, in the van...**

"You don't know how relieved I am that you came back!" Anna exclaimed. Nick and Sanders were in the front of the van driving. It seemed a little backwards to have Sanders handling the directions, but it worked out in the end every time. Aster, on the other hand, preferred his motorcycle over the van for some reason. "Because, um, you know, I'd have to get rid of a lot of my tech if you hadn't."

Jack sat on the ground with two police issued hand guns in his possession, looking up at her where she sat in her seat, Tina on her lap.

"You did tell Nick to swing by Jared's, right?" Jack asked her. She nodded. "Yeah, stupid move on my part, leaving my stuff behind." His right hand scratched the back of his left hand and Anna's purple eyes opened wide.

"What happened to your arm?" she asked, setting Tina down to move towards the young sniper.

"Oh, I just had to break a few things," he said, lifting his arm in front of his face. Did he not know that he had scraped up his arm that bad? Anna quickly moved for a medical kit but none was in the immediate area. "Hey, I have a question."

"Go for it," she told him, feeling uneasy just sitting there. She was so used to always doing things that just sitting and talking seemed unnatural to the busybody.

"How did you end up like this?" Jack asked her, leaning forward like she had to be studied to find the answer.

"Hm, that's kind of personal," she said, scooting back only a few inches. "Secret for a secret?" The thing about his sister had gotten her on edge, she really wanted to know, whether it was good or bad. For a second, she regretted the offer as his smirk dropped and he became rather solemn.

"Sure," he agreed.

"Alright, I almost finished my high school education when I got bored. Some people I shouldn't have worked for got me in on a few small jobs. Hackings, learning at that pace, was amazing, exhilarating. But after the first few small jobs, they had me doing worse and worse stuff and I couldn't get out of it. Even though I wanted to, I ended up dropping out of school and I had to take care of Tina - our parents... well, that's a secret for another time - and the pay was good. Aster ended up on some job and we made a break for it together.

"Twenty-one years old and my life is already in the dumps," she said sadly. The memories stung badly.

He looked dazed and her face flushed, wondering what she might have said to get that kind of reaction from him. "You're only twenty-one? I thought you were like twenty five or twenty eight."

"Stress takes a toll, huh?" Anna asked, twirling her multicolored bangs in her fingers. "Okay, your turn."

Jack took a deep breath and looked away. "Like Pitch said, I murdered my sister. She and I liked to skate on this pond near our place. She... Emma didn't want to go, but I pushed her to. It ended up that the ice was thinner than we expected. I was safe on the ice but the ice under her was breaking quickly." His voice trembled and she wondered if she had asked too much of him to tell her.

"There was a stick on the ice and I used it to try and push her away from the thin ice. I ended up pushing her onto even thinner ice and she fell in. I was stunned, I couldn't do anything. I felt frozen. No, that's not it. I wanted to move; I wanted to jump in after her and save her but my body wouldn't respond."

"Jack," Anna said softly, reaching out to grab his hand and this time he didn't pull it back. "That's not murder."

"That's not what the jury said. The persecutor made the case I was a sociopath or something like that, said I was a liability and I might hurt other kids and claim it was an accident. When I found the chance, I ran for it. My dad used to take me hunting when I was younger, so I knew how to handle a gun well. Changed my identity, took lessons, and then taught the lessons, then I was found and I've been on the run since."

"How long, exactly?"

"Two years, eight months and nineteen days," he said. She didn't mean that exact.

Anna ran a few numbers in her head quickly. "December? Where did you live?"

Jack finally turned towards her, his eyes red and a pang of guilt stabbed her. No, don't think about that. Something's not right here, figure that out. "Up north, in Maine."

"And that ice never cracked before?" He shook his head. "There... didn't happen to be any construction going on then, did there?"

Jack seemed to sober up a bit and then replied, "Actually, yeah, some company was putting in a mall."

"Do you remember the company's name? There's a company I know of, known for its effects on environments around it. One of the big ones was changes in the pH levels in the water nearby. If that had changed..." Anna paused. No, this was crazy. "It didn't happen to be by Kozomier's Enterprises?"

"Anna... this is creeping me out. Yeah, it was."

"Jack, listen to me," she reached out and grabbed his shoulders tightly. For a moment, she saw fear in his eyes but it changed and she noticed Tina poking over her shoulder from the reflection in his eyes. Drat, she had forgotten about Tina. "Kozomier's Enterprises, they're a branch that works directly for Hans Pitch."

* * *

**I got a HUGE reaction from the first chapter, bigger than I would've suspected. Thanks to kingholly (on tumblr) for reviewing and editing this for me! For those that want more regular updates on this fic, I do post a bit on my tumblr: .com under the tag "ginger writes". It will have updates on the status and other things, not to mention perhaps a bit of art on my part for it as I am mainly an art blog. **

**I look forward to your reviews and comments about this chapter!**


	3. Memories

"Wonderful!" Nick exclaimed and he pat Jack on the back, causing the boy to almost spit out a mouthful of his dinner, a string of spaghetti still hanging out of his mouth.

"Isn't it?" Anna happily responded. Jack had a feeling she'd be bouncing all around the place if they weren't sitting down in a restaurant and 'celebrating' her find.

"Yup," Jack listlessly replied, scooping another mouthful of spaghetti. It wasn't very good pasta but he wouldn't have to keep talking if he kept his mouth full.

"Hey, Jack," he heard Aster say as Anna tried to coax Tina into eating her vegetables. To his surprise, Aster sounded sincere and calming, not the usual argumentative tone they would bicker with before. "I'm sorry I said those things. Just... family means a lot to me."

Jack nodded lightly, staring at his food. "No, it's fine. I get it," he said with a long sigh to end it with. "I would've acted the same." Aster left him alone after that and the evening was as bland as the pasta.

Eating out wasn't something he used to do often as he preferred to rent rooms and have a small refrigerator full of food so he wouldn't be seen too often. However, their little stunt with the police earlier left them on the run. The only thing good to come out of it all was the company, but even that was going downhill as they all seemed to forgive him for his crime. It might have been an accident, but he was the one who caused it, he -in the end- was the one responsible.

Tina sat next to him, despite how everyone else seemed to act to the news, was rather quiet and reserved. His first thought was Pitch and what he might've done to the child but she had seemed more than okay back at the apartment. Then again, this was the man who had helped cause his sister's death and let him, at the time barely an adult, take the rap for it.

"Tina, are you alright?" he asked her, setting down his fork silently and scooted closer to her. The others chatted on, oblivious to anything else going on around them. Even Anna had joined in on the fun, having found getting Tina to eat her food an impossible task. He expected them to be the quite type, vigilantes and all, but it seemed that he was the only one who found silence not only a necessity to his work but his life as well. He didn't enjoy it, but it didn't mean that it wasn't needed.

"Yeah," she mumbled, slouching in her seat with her arms crossed over her chest and her eyes fixed on her dinner. An obvious lie, but he wouldn't call her out on it.

Jack nudged her slightly with a small smile on his lips. "Hey, you can tell me anything." She looked up to him at this, a glimmer of hope in her eyes and then she looked over at her sister. "How about... we go outside, get some fresh air?" The little girl nodded. "Tina and I are going to step outside for a moment."

Only Anna turned to pay any attention to them and the smile that she wore faltered. "Sure," she said. Jack thought he misheard her but had she sounded a bit sad?

Outside, he sat on the railing to the handicap ramp and he helped the young girl up to join him. "Something bugging you?"

Tina kicked the air as she looked at her lap. "It's Anna," she confessed with a comical sigh. Jack rested his hand on her back to comfort her and noticed she was trembling, cold so he pulled her closer to him, wrapping his arm over her shoulder.

"What about her?"

"She's acting like... like Mom," she mumbled.

"She's just trying to take care of you," he told her, giving her shoulder a light squeeze. Jack couldn't even fathom what it might be to be Anna, taking care of her sister alone, with the exception of the other Guardians keeping an eye on her from time to time.

"Well, I want my sister. She isn't Mom. She can't be," she told him, finally looking up. Her blue and purple eyes looked up at him, welled up with tears. It stung his heart but he managed a cocky smile. "Can you talk to her?"

He didn't have an answer for that - family wasn't exactly his forte, especially not other people's families and the last thing he wanted to do was promise her something he couldn't keep. "Why don't we go have some fun instead? Let's remind her she's your sister, huh?" Jack decided to offer, his mind already jumping through possibilities; an arcade or a park or mini golf. To do normal fun things, for a change, like they weren't all criminals.

Her smile light up at the idea and he couldn't help but notice the birthmark under her right eye. It was cute, a small detail no one would bother to notice, but something so small and unique. He shook the thought; he was being sappy and none of that made sense.

They returned to the table and Tina had insisted on holding his hand so when Aster saw them, he decided it was the perfect time to resume their rivalry.

"Now, now, Tina, don't you think you could find a better boyfriend?" She giggled and laughed, but Jack was looking at Anna who had flushed to the color of his spaghetti sauce.

For the life of him, he couldn't figure out why.

**At the hotel, with Anna...**

Anna peacefully watched from her bed, peaking over the rim of her book, as Jack and Tina made silly faces at each other. Her sister pulled at the corners of her mouth and wiggling her tongue all around and Jack retorted with pulling down his eyelids as he crossed his eyes, causing the young girl to cover her eyes.

"Ew!" she squeakily yelled though her smile was bright and bold. "Stop that!"

Anna's eyes returned to the words printed on the book but as soon as she did that Jack yelled.

"My eye," he groaned, cupping a hand over his right eye and clumsily making his way to the bathroom, blinking restlessly. She looked over to Tina who had her hands covering her mouth like she had done something wrong- an expression she had come to know far too well in the recent years.

"_Tina,_" the older sister sighed but before she could even think of a lecture, Jack called out:

"No! No, it's fine. It wasn't her fault," he quickly explained with a single breath and she studied him as he leaned towards the mirror, pulling down his eyelid like before. At long last he triumphantly yelled: "Got it!"

From where she sat, she couldn't see what he held in his hand but she saw that his eye had changed color.

"You wear colored contacts?" she asked incredulously, not really able to believe it at first. Colored contacts usually had to be changed daily, they were disposable. Did he really change them every night just to conceal his real eye color? Did he do that simply misdirect anyone looking for him?

"Yeah," Jack said with a quick nod and making a big and silly smile at Tina, pointing with his fingers at his eyes. "Look! We're the same!"

Normally, a remark like that might seem offensive, but coming from Jack it seemed like just another joke that meant no harm. The girl giggled and returned his goofy smile before he faced back to the mirror and plucked the other contact from his left eye. After a few good blinks, he tossed the contacts in the plastic trash bin and jumped into his bed.

"I don't see why we couldn't just share one big room, be a happy family, you know?" he asked. "I mean two beds per room? I think Bunny and I would do great together trying to share a bed, don't you think?"

She offered him a dry laugh before leaning back on the soft pillows of her bed. "Nick is too big to share with anyone other than Sandy or Tina and Tina prefers to stay with me. Aster is something of a restless sleeper."

"You're hiding something," he said, squinting his eyes with his smile standing steady on his lips. "Come on, spill it. Does Bunny drool in his sleep? Sleep talk? Sleep walk?"

Anna shook her head, her hair whipping her face teasingly as she did so. "By all means, if you want to wake up black and blue, feel free to share a bed with him."

"Do you speak from personal experience?" he asked, though he caught himself a little too late. Jack's smile dropped and an awkward look replaced it quickly. He tried to hide it by rolling on his bed, positioning himself to sleep under the covers but she had seen it.

"Don't worry, I know you didn't mean it that way," Anna said dismissingly. She could feel the pull of the sheets as Tina pulled herself onto the bed and lay her head in her lap.

"So I get the lovely ladies?" Jack skeptically asked, sounding desperate to change the topic and she couldn't agree with that any more.

The hacker gave him a nod that was less of an answer and more of a "yeah, I guess so" kind of gesture. "Yeah, well, it's not like any other arrangement would work. If someone were to attack us, I'd have to leave Tina's side to fight. She was-" The woman broke off with a muffled sob but Jack seemed to get what it meant.

"And that's what happened..." he trailed off and she nodded in response, looking down at her sister who had already dozed off on her lap.

"That's how Pitch got his hands on-"

"No, no," Jack said, his brown eyes looking alarmed and scared- but not for himself. For them? "It's fine, you don't have to talk about it."

Anna found partly laughing and sobbing. Here she was, crying about being unable to protect her sister whereas Jack had told her that he had completely lost his. Tina had only been out of her reach for a week but it was miserable. How could he stand it for two years? It felt like she was complaining about having a toy taken away when someone else didn't even have the toy in the first place.

"I'm fine, Jack. Really. But thanks for caring."

The distance between the two of them felt further than the space between the beds in the silence.

"Anna, can I ask you a favor of you?" Jack asked, catching her off guard and startling her.

"Sure," Anna agreed.

"Tina told me she wants her sister," he said with a twisted face and she could only assume he had no idea how to word what he wanted to tell her. "That is, I think she thinks you're taking the place of your guys' mom." The memory of her parents resurfaced, but she quickly managed to push it down and out of her mind. Seeing his concerned face, she could only expect she looked as awkward as she felt and she noticed how she had shifted in her spot on the bed and bit at her bottom lip.

"I have to," she said, glancing down at Tina cautiously who was fast asleep, even drooling on her pants. "Otherwise I'll have to give her over to someone that can take care of her better than I can, to some family she doesn't know and I won't be able to see her again." The thought of Tina resenting her was nothing to the idea of losing what family she had left.

Jack sat himself up and swung his legs off the bed to get up and gently took a seat next to Anna. "That's not what I meant," he slowly said, careful with each word. "Maybe you don't always have to treat her that way. Do you two ever just have fun together?"

_Like you two had, making faces at each other? ,_ she silently inquired, though she dropped her gaze and shook her head instead. "I usually don't have the time or the energy."

Her body froze when she felt his touch on her back, rubbing slowly to calm her down, making her realize just how tense she was. Her body felt tired and sore from holding in her anxiety, her stress and then every muscle in her body just loosened making her feel lighter in that one moment.

"It's important to her," Jack said with a nod towards the sleeping child, removing his hand from her back. It had felt so warm, _so right_, that when it was gone the area felt cold and frozen. "Like you said, now that I'm here things could… change, right? I'll help you out."

Anna dared to look at him, his big brown eyes holding something, something she hadn't noticed of him in the past week: nostalgia. "I'd like that," she said with a weary smile just as Tina's eyes fluttered open.

"Hi Jack," her sister yawned, stretching out her arms and legs from the short nap. Tina raised her hand to poke Anna's cheek quite innocently. "Hi Anna."

The older sister leaned forward, planting a kiss on her sister's forehead respite the resistance she put up, yelling things like, "Ew! Cooties!"

"No, all girls have cooties," Jack laughed warmly. "You already have them." He poked her cheek and she puffed it out in retaliation.

"Anna's cooties are different!" Tina retorted with a huff though she still lay on her lap, lying on her back so she looked up to the both of them.

"Do I have cooties?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest. When Tina shook her head, he let out a mock gasp. "Egad! I'm uninfected!" With that, Tina struggled to move off of Anna's lap and crawled across to plush bed to Jack where she stood on her knees to fell on his lap comically though she instantly rolled away and laid between the two, her head resting on the pillow.

"Ha, now you have cooties too!" Tina said, sticking her tongue out at the white haired boy. "Night," she chimed, faking a loud snore to which Anna offered a shrug to Jack who returned with a big smile.

"You're quite the silly one, aren't you?" he rhetorically asked while swinging his legs up on to the bed and lying down next to her. Tina suppressed a smile unsuccessfully and then rolled closer to Anna that had yet to join the restful duo, her book still on her lap with her thumb holding her place.

"Good night," she said softly, brushing aside a few stray strands of hair from Tina's face. While Tina was still awake, though trying to fall asleep, Jack looked restful, his chest rising and falling rhythmically and that smile he had unchanging from his lips.

Anna could remember her week of plotting, trying to get everything perfect to save Tina. Aster and Nick she barely paid attention to, until they started to tease Jack. Sanders had kept Jack company to which the white haired teen had initially not wanted though he came to be more comfortable around all of them. Yet the smile he wore now, the smile he wore when Tina returned to them safely was a smile she had not seen him with until he was in the company of the younger girl.

Hearing about his sister, her death, his refusal to put the blame of it on someone else made the hacker wonder if he was like this with all children, seeing them like the sister he held so dear to him even after her passing.

She shook her head lightly, her hand holding her flushed face, trying to stop herself from thinking too much. Even in thought, thinking of him this was felt intrusive. He trusted her with the truth; she shouldn't go around trying to prod in his mind for motives and aspirations.

Finding the energy spent on the day catching up to her, she folded the corner of the page and lay down on the bed, sharing the pillow with her sister. None of them changed into sleepwear nor lay under the blanket, but it was the most comfortable she had ever been and she soundlessly found her way to pleasant dreams.

It had only felt like a few minutes until she woke up to the sound of Nick's voice.

"Wake-y wake-y!" he boomed as the door loudly swung open, hitting the wall, and flinching at the noise it made. His hands hovered near the door like he was somehow willing it to stay silent. His voice softened. "Good news, friends!"

"Hm?" Anna heard Jack respond and felt a shift in the bed as he moved. "What news?" He sounded groggy but well rested, like herself. Following she stretched in her laid down position before forcing herself to sit upright and looked upon her friend with heavy eyes.

"Anna, good and bad news, actually," Nick said with a hearty voice. "Bad news: files survived explosion. Good news: nothing has happened, but we must hurry." Anna was a little put off from how golly he sounded about it all. The explosion -as part of her plan- was supposed to have destroyed the physical copies of the informants. If she had thought the documents had a chance to survive the explosion, she would have directed her fairies to go into hiding for a while. For Nick to be upbeat about her failed plan felt like a slap in the face.

Yet for Pitch to not have acted on the information was suspicious at the least unless there was some politics she had not heard of yet due to the nature of the past few days. It could be a trap, but what other choice did she have? To have him hunt them?

"How do you know this?" she asked him, sounding wearier than she thought she would and even a little upbeat. A tiny voice in the back of her head felt relieved to know this even though it was bad to find out; at least she knew for sure that they were in danger compared to wondering if they were or were not.

"Sanders has loyal workers," Nick said with a nod.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Jack said and their attention instantly turned to him. "Sanders has loyal workers?"

"Did we not tell?" Nick asked, genuinely confused as he turned to Anna with a look that wished her to explain. Reluctantly, she offered him a shrug to tell him she would.

"Pitch stole the company from Sanders," Anna told Jack, her mouth feeling slow and the words took effort to pronunciate. "He has connections, still, just like how I have informants."

"I always thought that Sanders was just really good at..."

"Conning people?" she finished for him. "Politics of the business world. I bet he would've gone off and either started another company or rose to the top of someone else's - not like how Pitch did, I must add, with blackmail and/or bribes. But Pitch spread rumors and ruined his image and was forced to work in a dirtier workplace than that of corporate businesses."

"Oh." Jack sounded truly disappointed and saddened and she had the feeling he would've rather heard that from Sanders himself and not from her.

"Right," Nick said like one might if they were remembering they left the oven on, "so closest informant is West in Chicago. Time to pack." And with that, he closed the door and went off and only then did she realize that he didn't have a copy of their room key and the thought made her smile. Only Nick could do that.

"Tina, time to get up," she said, shaking her sister's shoulder lightly.

Jack leaned forward and held up a finger to his lips. "Let her rest," he said softly. "Take her down to the van and I'll pack up our stuff here.

Anna found herself smiling. "Thank you." Scooping up her sister into her arms (though with more effort than she thought), she got up and slipped on her shoes. "It's nice to have you with us," she told him fondly.

**Later, with Jack...**

It only took a whole day of driving, but they made it to Chicago in one piece and almost no resistance to get there aside from Nick speeding on the highway and having to get the police off his tail; even with fake ID's they had to be very careful especially after their stunt at Pitch's office. Pitch, who had detailed dossiers on all of them, might even have the list of their fake ID's. Still, better to play it safe than sorry.

Jack ran his hand through his newly dyed hair that Anna had taken the effort to doing in the van in their spare time. It was a nice job, he admitted. The brown dye was evenly placed through his hair and with soft highlights that made it look very natural. Then again, he figured she had to be good at it considering her own hair with her dark brown hair streaked with random colors and her bangs colored with greens, blues, yellows and purples.

"Frost," he heard Anna say through the ear piece and he quickly lifted his recently acquired headset on his head so it would cover his right ear, the left side pushed back so he could still hear. "You're looking for an average height girl, tall and lean with blonde hair. Her name is Lauren, age twenty seven. She should be wearing a blue and green tie-dye shirt."

The boy leaned against the wall of the airport lobby, scanning each and every person that walked by. Of course, this woman - Lauren - wouldn't just leave but it would be best if he found her as quickly as possible. The plane she was on supposedly landed twelve minutes ago, so she should be here soon, but as he waited he wondered what Anna had in plan to help her fairies. New ID's? A place to hide? Surely, they couldn't just take them all on their expeditions to save the others, but they couldn't just leave them behind.

_Don't worry about that,_ he had to remind himself. _That's her job. That's what she's good at._

When he was asked to be the one to pick her up, he was surprised. He wasn't good with on the field kind of action, but Aster and Sanders were sent on some other job and Nick was driving the 'sleigh' as well as making sure Anna and Tina remained safe. Like on their way here, it was better to be safe than sorry on any detail of their missions and that included protecting every member of the Guardians though Jack had the feeling Anna was more than capable of protecting herself. It was Tina they needed the extra protection for after the previous week's encounter with Pitch who held her hostage.

"Frost, pay attention," Anna told him though here voice surprisingly gentle for her choice of words. "The fairy should be flying in... now."

And on cue, passing by a security camera, came the blonde woman wearing the type-dyed shirt and Jack removed himself from the wall to move forward.

"Umph!" someone said after colliding in with the brown haired teen, obviously not having watched where they were going. "Sorry!"

Jack froze, his stomach twisting itself in knots, her brown eyes moving over to the man who had fallen down, the collision having sent him to the ground due to being seemingly unbalanced from the bags he carried. A woman stooped down to help him up.

"Mo-" he cut himself off when he saw who exactly these people were. _Mom. Dad._ The words stuck in his throat kept him in a state of silence as he stared at them with not only surprise but incredibility. "Mon désolé," he quickly said to cover himself. It was a bad translation to say he was sorry in French, but the first one he thought of to cover up from almost saying "Mom".

He sped off, hoping they hadn't gotten too good of a look at him and made his way towards the woman. His head was filled with different thoughts and emotions that he found it hard to concentrate on the task at hand and ended up speaking a bit too quickly. "Lauren?" She nodded with a displeased look but he paid no mind to it. "I'm Frost, I suppose Tooth has told you?" he asked her, but his mind was elsewhere.

"Yes," she said with a long sigh. "Though I was hoping to meet her instead."

"Sorry," Jack apologized though he wasn't very sorry. "But we need to go now." He pivoted on his heel and began to walk off; scanning the crowd for his parents to map a route to avoid them but his arm was caught.

"Actually, we're not going," she said and his eyes moved to his arm to see that she was holding it, "anywhere."

"What do you mean?" Jack asked, very surprised. In his ear, he heard Anna telling him to bolt for it but Lauren's grip on him was too tight.

"I mean, Pitch is paying quite the sum to bring any of you in," she said with a toothy grin that sent shivers down his spine.

"Tooth," he breathed but the other end of the line was silent. He yanked his arm back and his arm was pulled free from her grasp but as he sped off a scream rung through the lobby:

"BOMB!" Lauren screamed and the place went still and silent but he kept running. "He's planted a bomb!"

Jack painfully hit the ground, the weight of another toppling him down and keeping him there. The last thing he remembered before the darkness swallowed him was the sound of static in his earpiece.

* * *

**Thanks for all of the new follows and favorites, everyone! It's very encouraging for me to see those as I continue to write on. I love hearing what you guys think about it, so please leave reviews! Again, you can find me on tumblr as Gingervora if you ever want to see my art or any updates on the fic, which are tagged as "ginger writes". xoxo**


	4. Bound

The world felt like a swamp made of peanut butter and honey, and he was chin deep in it by the way his entire body felt. It didn't help that his arms were behind him, bound by a zip tie behind the chair he was stationed on. Jack's head rocked from side to side, hung over his lap while his eyes fluttered open with much effort only to catch the dim light of the room.

"Sorry about that," a husky voice said a little too loudly for the boy's taste.

"What?" he meant to ask though it came out more like, "Hwaaa?" After a few blinks, he could make out the basic shape of a man sitting on the iron table in front of him with a clipboard in his hands. At first, he thought that it was the dim light behind him that made him look dark but he quickly noticed the man was colored.

"The guards at the airport," the man said, like it explained everything. At least, it didn't to the teen with a possible concussion. "Though it's reasonable, when you run. Why did you run?"

Jack didn't answer. Even if he wanted to, he doubted his mouth was up to job of forming words, much less sentences.

"You've been out for almost three hours,"- That explains why I can't feel my hands, Jack thought to himself - ,"and we haven't found a bomb. We've even suspended all the planes in the port because of that girl's accusation. Lucky for her, someone posted her bail - someone really powerful - but you don't seem to have that luxury."

He wanted to slap the man for sounding so amused at the situation but more than one thing prevented his hand from hurting his dark face.

"So with no bomb to be found, you're almost cleared of the charges. I want to help you, but you're going to have to tell me why you ran in order for me to do so," he said and Jack found himself rather entertained by the low, almost melodic voice to the point of staying shut just so he would continue to talk on.

"Why... do you think I did?" Jack decided on saying with surprising articulacy and was satisfied with the expression the man wore when hearing his words. His eyebrows shot up, his mouth agape and, very quickly, it all vanished but not before Jack had seen it and relished in it.

Silence lingered in the air, the man not wanting to play the power game Jack was leading on and Jack unwilling to say anything that might be used against him. Time felt like something untouchable, unobtainable the way it passed to the captive, the way eternity felt.

"Detective Saur," a voice, metallic and small, bounced through the room. "He's being transferred." The man abruptly left, making no other sound than his feet shuffling on the floor and not so much as a head turn in the brunette's direction as he left.

Another person came in from behind Jack, invisible to him as he felt his hands freed from the zip tie with a soft snap. He rubbed his wrists, curled and uncurled his fingers and moved his hands in circles to regain the feeling in them. But when he looked to see who had let him go, they were gone, leaving only the door open with two men at the door, clad in blue and ready to whisk him away to wherever he was to go next but not before snapping a metallic pair of cuffs on him.

Jack followed wordlessly in the middle of the two blue men, who didn't talk other than to tell him to keep moving whenever he slowed down. Each hallway they walked in felt cold and heartless, the walls made of bland concrete and the floor of a gray stone surface. Even the lights overhead seems to radiate no heat and barely lit the small area around them. One of the lights, as they neared their next turn, flickered almost consistently.

One and a half seconds each, he silently noted to himself, unable to help the way he thought. As they turned a corner, something flashed in the corner of his eye, taking his attention from the lights. His eyes traveled to a room that stood cattycorner to the flickering light and whose door was only half open. From what the teen could see, it was just an office and he let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding.

Right, this is a police station. Of course they'd have offices and officers and bad lighting, he thought to himself though he wasn't sure why he was so relieved. It wasn't like he expected to be attacked inside a police station or something of the like.

"Where... am I going?" Jack found himself asking, but the neither of the men answered his question, remaining as silent as ever. Only when they reached the outside and they lead him to one of their cop cars did he realize what was happening: he was being transferred to a different station and it didn't seem like it was because they thought he was less of a threat.

His eyes darted around, wondering if he could possibly escape. The path they led him down wasn't very closed in, but it was only a short walk - barely a few yards - to the van they led him to. He entertained the idea of making a run for it, but how far would he go before they caught him? Even if he did get away, there was the problem of his bound hands.

And, of course, the worst possible thought had to come to him right then and there: what of the Guardians?

He had heard static on the line before he had passed out so either the earpiece was broken in the fall or Tooth cut the line. He couldn't grasp any reason why she would do that to him. Sure they might have found it, but until then she could have helped him, right? In either case, would they come and rescue him, save him from wherever they might send him to or would he be -once again- responsible for his own survival.

His opportunity at escaping dissipated as he was shoved forward into the back of the van, sitting on the bench with one of the cops at his side and the other opposite from him. The next few- silent and boring, he might add- hours would have felt like torture to anyone else but to the patient marksman it was child's play. The policemen pulled out their phones, played Angry Birds or Temple Run, even taking turns for naps but Jack never once let himself sleep. He kept himself awake and observant though only when the ride was over did he realize what a waste it was, not to get some sleep as of what happened next.

Like the police station, he was placed in some kind of interrogation room though he doubted the place he was brought to was another government building. His hands still bound behind his back, Jack leaned forward and rested his head on the cool metal table as he waited for something to happen next.

"Well, well, well, I should have known this would've worked. I really should stop doubting myself," Jack heard someone say but was too tired to try to think about it, much less open his eyes to see who it was.

"Well, well, well," he replied in a half-mocking tone, "who so desperately wanted my company?" To his surprise, this was granted a response of laughter from the man in the room. Curiosity trumping over exhaustion , the teen opened an eye to see a devilish looking man, pale as could be, jet black hair slicked back, tall and demeaning and with yellow eyes that bore into him. "Pitch," he identified the man to be with a growl.

"Come now, Jack, I know there's some bad blood between us, but I have an offer for you. Really, just listen and then you can decide whether or not to hate me," Pitch said, his voice sounding more entertained than the boy would have liked to hear. It sounded grating. "Yes, I kidnapped that girl's sister, but who are you to them, really? I thought you were more of a neutral party a few weeks ago."

Something in Jack's stomach fluttered when he heard the man talk. Pitch didn't know that he knew the truth of his sister's death yet. His mind instantly went to thinking how he could play this out, but nothing came to mind during that moment. No, he was far too tired to think of such a plan on the spot so he decided to humor the man in the meantime.

"What do you need from me?"

"Why, only to offer you something," Pitch said calmly.

"Let me rephrase: what do you need from me that you're willing to kidnap me for?" asked Jack.

"Kidnapped?" The man laughed. "No, no, hardly kidnapped, though still hardly legal. Jack, you have committed many crimes so that setting you up to get caught by the police is barely something to blame _me_ for! However, bribing them to put you in my custody is something entirely different."

"Bribing?" Jack asked, actually confused. "Couldn't you just have paid for my bail and picked me up along the way?"

"Now _that_ would be kidnapping and, sadly, I can't afford to involve myself in. It would give those pesky Guardians too much to work with. Still, I can't expect you to understand the politics I'm involved in," Pitch explained as he swept himself to the other side of the table and taking a seat.

"Well you have me now," Jack felt like he had to point out as the man was talking in circles. "What is this proposition you so want me to take?"

"What's the rush, Jacky?" asked Pitch with a laugh as he leaned back in his chair, Jack sitting up to be able to see him better. "Or - oh - did you need to be somewhere?"

Haha, aren't you funny, Jack thought to himself, trying not to physically show his annoyance and almost every fiber of his being to keep him from leaping over the table and bite the man's face off.

"Actually, I _do,_" he said with some satisfaction, leaning back in his own chair.

Pitch shot him a tedious look, his sour face looking even more distasteful. "Fine. Jack, what I need to tell you is something you might not be willing to hear. You might not even want to believe it, but what I'm going to tell you is the truth. This - and what I want to do about it - is all I've brought you here for. If you don't want to take part in it, you're free to go - it's no loss to me, but you'll benefit from it greatly, believe me."

Jack raised a brow, finding himself actually interested. What did Pitch think he could offer that was so great? "Shoot."

**With Anna, earlier...**

"Where could Jack possibly be?!" she asked, almost hysterical from the events that had unfolded. The woman remained, unmoving at her computer with the exception of her quick fingers on the keyboard and her mouth that spouted her unstoppable worries.

"Don' know, shela," Aster said, he and Sanders having had rushed back as quickly as they could when they received the news from Anna, who continued to attempt to hack into the airport's security footage. It was proving a difficult task, having no physical connection to the place and only their wireless to maneuver through.

"Ah-ha!" she chimed triumphantly, laying back in her chair with a long sigh, before playing the footage, as if hacking had been physically draining. There was no sound, but what happened on the screen seemed pretty cut and dry to her.

"My... my contact," she muttered, her brows knit to a look of worry. "I can't believe this. We need to go save Jack!"

"From what?" Aster skeptically asked, sitting on his little box in the corner, Tina on his lap and attempting to crawl up onto his shoulders. "The police have him and we can't very well storm into a station, now can we?"

Anna opened her mouth wide, ready to tell him off, to say they needed to get Jack no matter the cost but she knew he was right. Besides, frontal assaults were never their thing. Everything they did had to be done behind the scenes, in the shadows.

"Nick, take us to the police station," she said.

"I just told'ya-"

"I know what you said," she half yelled, half said. "But we're not going to get anything accomplished by sitting here in the airport parking lot. We at least need to stay on his tail. I could've done so with my computer but..." An image of Lauren flashed before her eyes. "But not now. This is my responsibility. I'll head in."

"Sheila, I know ya' mean well, but wouldn' it be better to let Sanders do this? Or myself?" he asked and she noticed he didn't look annoyed or frustrated but rather concerned instead. It was different, but not unwelcome.

"No, Sanders - no offense -" Sanders raised his hand as if to say no offense was taken, "has already communicated with the police recently. We can't have anyone putting the dots together. Aster, you might work well with security guards but not the police. How many times have you been caught?"

He looked taken aback by this. "A few but-"

"But nothing," Anna interrupted sternly. "I'm the only one here who hasn't been caught."

"All the more reason _not_ to let you go!" the graying man protested.

"_No._ I'm the one that brought him into this and got him to stay," she said and her eyes trailed over to Tina for a split moment. "I'll head in. Nick, how long?"

"Eh, depending on traffic, I'd say about hour and half," Nick said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Then let's get going." Anna sighed, looking down at her lap where her hands laid with their palms up. "Give me some time, I've got an idea." And with that, she turned back to her computer.

**At the police station...**

"So you're from the Capital?" asked the man behind the desk.

Anna fumbled with her hands, nervous but not yet willing to admit it. "Yes. I was in the area when I heard about this recent incident so I was directed this way," she told him, repeating everything Aster told her through the earpiece. The cop held up her id closer to his face for what seemed like eternity before handing it back to her with a nod of approval.

"And they let you wear your hair like that?" he asked, sounding actually pretty surprised at her multicolored bangs.

"My niece," Anna said quickly, without Aster's help, "dyed them yesterday. She wants to be a hair stylist," she finished with a nervous laugh but the man didn't seem to think much of it.

"Well, the head detective is downstairs with this supposed terrorist. Take a turn to the left the first corner you see and it should be the third door on the left." When she asked him about the woman, Lauren, he looked at her with some shock. "We haven't released that information yet."

Even Aster sounded flustered, trying to think of something from the sleigh. That didn't exactly make her calm about the situation so she figured that this is what he always felt like but was able to express it since he wasn't in the field. Yeah, that'd do for now.

"We do have our contacts in the Pentagon, you know," she said with something of a sly smile when Aster managed to stitch that lie together quickly for her sake. "Thank you, I'll be on my way." Her body wanted to unstiffen, to let out a sigh of relief or even do a small dance at her success but she forced herself to keep moving; she wasn't done quite yet.

She wiped her hands on her purple pencil skirt, one of the few articles of clothing she owned that would be passable for pretending to be a government official, as she walked down the stairs and through the halls.

"Detective?" Anna asked a few passing by policemen though only one stopped to assist her.

"No, he's interrogating the suspect. You're going to have to wait until he's been dealt with."

A scowl creased her delicate features. "But I _need_ to see him," she insisted but all the man offered after that was the room he was in and how long she might be waiting for. For some reason, the detective came out soon, looking somewhat pissed. She only managed a glimpse of Jack in the room before the door shut.

Quickly she flashed her fake ID. "I'm here from the Pentagon. May I speak to the suspect?" Anna carefully asked, trying on a smile.

"No, he's being transferred elsewhere," he sighed, leaning back on the door. "What does the Pentagon want with him, anyways?" the man inquired, his chin tilted up.

She let out a nervous laugh, one that Aster harshly 'advised' against. "We're interested in every possible threat. There were a few of our own on one of the planes in that airport and I happened to be in the area," Anna explained, batting her eyes a few times. If he thought anything was off, he didn't say so. "Might I ask... where he's being transferred to?"

He eyed her carefully, maybe even suspiciously but didn't answer and walked off instead.

"I-is there anywhere I can privately make a call? To the Pentagon?" asked Anna sweetly and was led to a door closer towards the stairs where she promptly shut the door.

"Did you catch that, Aster?" she harshly whispered.

"Aye, that I did," he said. "What about his, eh, transfer?"

"I don't think the man knows anything about it. I've never heard of police stations transferring suspects that they have nothing to hold against so promptly," she skeptically added. "Perhaps it has something to do with Pitch?"

"Might be. Come out as quickly as ya' can, Anna. We'll follow that divvy van," Aster instructed her.

"Divvy van?" She was used to his Australian slang, but that she could not decipher.

"How do you call it...? Divvy! Like, division, ya' know? Between the passengers and the drivers?" he explained sounding almost desperate.

"Then why aren't limos called that?" she decided to ask, but only received the instructions to get out of there, but as she opened her door, the sight of - not only two guards - but Jack as well.

"Hide!" Aster ordered her and she obeyed, not risking the time to ponder _why._ She darted back and pressed her body close to the wall.

"They're already on the move," she told him. "Follow the van, I'll find another way to get there." Anna walked back out into the hallway, walking up to the man at the counter. "I need a ride with the suspect. Pentagon's orders," she said, holding up her badge.

**Later...**

She hadn't been able to get out with Jack, not as she sat up in the front with the driver. "It was such a long ride," Anna complained. "Isn't there a restroom somewhere?" With almost physical reluctance, he agreed and verbally guided her to the restroom.

"They've been here before," Aster said, his voice sounding ansty through the mic, obviously wishing he was the one out in the field.

I got that, she thought to herself rather happily. But she passed up the restroom, going behind the van to follow where she last saw Jack and the two cops head off towards thought after the first turn she had to guess her way through. Checking every door seemed risky, but seeing as the cops hadn't returned yet, she supposed it was further down.

"Ma'am?"

She spun to see the two cops behind her. She missed the turn, she supposed, only by a few feet. Not too much of a difference, but enough to mislead her away from them. Still, she couldn't risk the cops asking questions. With grace and the element of surprise on her side, she kicked the first cop's shins and he bounced back. The other one reached for his gun but a little too late as she arrowed her arm forward, wrapping it around his and then pressed her body against it to immobilize it.

Sensing his other arm coming around to grab her, she used her body weight to fall forward, bringing him with her. While her hand was crushed under him, she got up faster than he did and turned towards the other one who still cradled his knees and kicked him, sending him against the wall with a loud thump. With the first cop now back on his feet, she thrust her elbow towards his gut and he bended forward and socked him in the face and he slumped to the ground.

"Uh... Anna?" Aster asked wearily. She swore she heard his voice crack, but it might've been interferance between her earpiece and his.

Panting lightly she answered, "Yes?"

"Where did you learn to...?"

"Nevermind that. Right now, I have to find Jack," Anna firmly replied, kneeling down to take one of their guns. After checking to see if it's ammunition was sufficient, she moved on to the other only to see he still held on to consciousness.

"Why... are you..." he struggled to ask but she didn't give him the chance to finish.

"Tell me where the security room is," she inquired nicely. These men weren't bad, but this... this was questionable.

He looked reluctant at first but, for some reason, he told her. Feeling generous, she left him as is - he didn't seem capable of walking and so not much of a threat though she did take his gun, Jack could use it when she found him. By following the policeman's instructions, she easily found the security room with one portly man watching the screens who quickly surrendered at the sight of her gun.

"Loyalty is easily bought, eh?" Aster offered when she finished binding the man to the chair.

The security cameras didn't show much aside from a few guards messing around on the job, Pitch talking to Jack and some other guards tending to their weapons in a store room. Most of the other rooms were empty and - wait... Pitch talking to Jack? The woman stared at the image before her. Jack nodding his head, looking... interested in what he was saying. No, this couldn't be right.

"That room," she said to the man as she pointed to the screen. "Where is that room?"

"Down the hallway over at the end of the hall, you can't miss it," he told her, sounding rushed or threatened simply by her tone and less of what she thought he thought she was capable of. Disabling or self-defense, yeah. To kill? Not a chance.

Without another word, she ran off only to find that the room he described was one of the empty ones. "Drat," she spat, though Aster used some more colorful language. Running back to the security room, she asked again and once more she was given a wrong room.

"You're running in circles," criticized Aster.

Anna rolled her eyes though knowing he couldn't see her. "Do you have any better leads?" she asked. Only static sounded through the line. "Thought so."

She strolled down the halls aimlessly then moving up a floor or two, knowing there was limited space. The building only had four floors, after all. Where could they be otherwise? This is where they dropped them off, after all, and nothing else was in sight.

"Anna, we're coming in," Aster announced and the faint sound of shuffling run on the line. She almost laughed at how ready he was to leave without her permission. "We can cover more ground."

"Leave someone in the sleigh, then," she firmly said.

"Nick offered to stay, he'll be relaying on messages."

In the meantime, she paced the security room.

"I've got it this time!" the guard exclaimed, almost rejoicing. "Downstairs!"

Anna rubbed her temples. "There _is_ no downstairs. Four floors and only a handful of guards guarding empty rooms," she said, almost annoyed. Did he think she was stupid, going around and doing whatever he thought was the right place? Though... it wouldn't hurt to humor the man. "How exactly do I get downstairs?"

"Oh, that's easy," he proudly said. "Take the hallway from here; go down until the very end. There's an elevator, the only one that goes down from here. Take my keys, it'll let you down."

Wearily, she did as he said though giving him a skeptical look as she did so. "What about... you know, letting intruders run around?"

"Oh posh, there's nothing here to guard! Honestly, this place only gets used like twice a year by the same guy. That, eh, slick fellow," he said.

With a pause, she said, "Thank you for your help," before running off. This time- this time he was right. The keys worked and the elevator dropped down, opening up to a dark corridor when it hit her: she didn't know which room to check. Anna had been so concentrated on getting down that she hadn't bothered to ask, though she began to realize that there was the possibility the man wouldn't know that.

Checking every door she passed by, once more all she found were empty rooms until she found a familiar one, one she had seen Pitch and Jack in. Alas, it was empty. The only thing that was left were the police issued metal handcuffs that laid on the table and she stared at them with horror and confusion. Had Jack accepted some terms of a deal with Pitch? Were they working together? Maybe Jack was playing a part, going along with it! But the longer she held on to that idea the faster she realized that was most likely not the case.

Feeling almost defeated, she tried to wander her way back to the elevator with a sense of dread hanging over her. That was it - Pitch got whatever he wanted and they were down a team member. She weighed the thought of telling the others but decided against it. That was something that needed to be done face to face. Sanders had liked Jack so much. Nick, too. Aster... well, as much as Aster could like him. Then Tina and herself... To think Jack was gone felt so weird. It had only been a short time knowing him but now it felt like they lost something that they had since the beginning.

Just then, a scream rang through the air and startled Anna. "Oh, get the gag back on!" a female voice ordered and then a harsh snap cracked and all fell silent once more. Without a moment to think, she ran towards the source of the scream, the voice, the snap.

The room she found held three guards but her focus did not remain on them long because, before her on the ground, laying pitifully on his side was Jack, his hands bound behind him though his feet untied, a soft gag in his mouth and his brown hair plastered to the side of his face with fresh blood.

"Jack," she breathed.

And all hell broke loose.


	5. Unrequited

**With Aster...**

By the time he had found Anna, she had already thrown herself into a fight with two people and her strength... Well, he didn't expect her small body to be capable of such things. One moment, she was be in the line of fire, the next moment it was like she had disappeared. The next thing he knew, her attacker was on the floor, a sound crack ringing in the air that made him wince. Aster could only watch as she moved on to the next - a woman - who held out a gun towards Anna at point blank.

He raised his gun, aimed and was ready to fire, but he didn't have the chance. The information specialist had grabbed the woman's wrist, pushing the arm up. The gun fired and the bullet snugly lodged itself into the ceiling about them. He could only guess that the grip his fellow Guardian held on the woman was painful because her hand opened, releasing the gun. It clattered to the floor right as her knee went up and connected with the guard's stomach, which only had a moment to attack. To which the moment was wasted trying to clumsily hit Anna, barely hitting the small woman's shoulder. A gasp, a gag and then the guard collapsed to the floor, slipping out of her

"Oh," Anna said, panting heavily. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn't have believed it had really happened. Even though she could successfully disarm and knock out two opponents, it still took something out of her. She knelt down next to Jack who had passed out in the struggled. "Hi Aster."

It would be a few seconds before he looked at her, into those strange eyes of hers because his sight rested on the barely-an-adult-but-still-an-adult's crumpled body. Jack looked like a broken toy the way he laid on the ground and the injuries he sustained. His head was covered in blood. It even pooled beneath him. He had lacerations that cut through his clothes to his skin; his stomach, his arms, his legs. Geeze. Despite their arguments and fights, Aster never wished harm on him. Well, he had when he thought he had killed his own sister but not now, not seriously.

His heart ached when he watched Anna struggle to pick up the limp body of the boy, trying with all her might but only able to drag him with what little strength she had left. They had only known this kid for such a short while and she had grown such an attachment to him. She cared for all the Guardians, true, but not the way she did with him. What was so special? "Oi, stand aside," he said, gently pushing her as he kneeled down and picked up Jack bridal style. Humiliating but now was no time for his pride to make a mess of things.

"Let's get him back to the sleigh," he told her as he set off.

"The van?!" the woman exclaimed, her purple eyes wide with - with what? Fear? "He needs to go to the hospital!"

"An then what?!" Aster found snapping loudly and she shrank back. "They'd ask too many questions. Even if we got him better, _he'd end back up in Pitch's hands somehow._"

Anna took a step away, looking frightened. Her calm while fighting, while researching to save Jack and he had hurt her. Of course he had hurt her, he had yelled at her.

"We'll find somebody. Somebody local. Or head to a pharmacy and try out luck there on our own," he stated as he pushed forward. He couldn't see her, but he knew the Guardian trailed behind him silently and he looked down at the kid in his arms. "I promise."

The halls they walked through on the way back felt deadening to the man. He had rushed in with only one thought in mind: helping Anna. He hadn't taken the time to look at the enviroment they stumbled upon. Being underground usually suited him best but here - here he felt like the place would collapse on itself merely to spite them and their attempts.

Anna hadn't left Aster's side until he parted with the boy, laying him on the floor of the van. To their luck, Nick knew some basic medical skills and deduced that Jack's injuries weren't as bad as they had initially thought. While some of them would leave scars, Jack didn't need immediate medical attention. So long as they kept the bleeding to a minimum, he'd be fine.

"I'mma take my 'cycle," he passively said as he heaved himself up from his spot on the floor. Anna reached out to him, taking his jacket's sleeve - which was now coated in the boy's blood - into her hand. He could have shrugged her off, told her to keep paying attention to Jack just in case or even ask her to let go. He did none of that, instead keeping his eyes fixed on his lap and waiting for her to speak.

"Aster," she said carefully. "I don't think we should be moving yet."

"Anna," he said, taking her hand from his sleeve and into his own, "We're not doing any favors to ourselves just sitting out 'ere. We're sittin' ducks."

Aster watched as her eyes flickered to Jack who looked like death itself. They had no water or towels to clean him with so he bled on the floor of the van, his hair matted with blood and his breathing shallow, it was no wonder Anna was so concerned.

"Sheila," the man softly said, placing a hand on her shoulder and she flinched. He quickly took back his hand; he needn't frighten her anymore. "Tell Nick we're heading to my place."

**With Anna...**

Nick and Sanders sat up front, as they usually did, but Anna had Tina sit up with them. Not that the young girl wasn't used to situations like this - oh how Anna hated that her sister was used to these things - but she didn't want Tina to see _her_ like this. She wanted her sister to be able to rely on her, to trust that she could control herself to think clearly, to help them survive. Her brain was her weapon; she couldn't afford it to become clouded. Tina needed to know that her older sister would continue to be her protector.

Having laid Jack's head on her lap to keep it from hitting the floor as they drove on, her pencil skirt became stained. Not that she minded as she preferred her looser clothing than the stiff office-like articles but it did make her look ragged. That, as well, was something she didn't want Tina to see. While she didn't look as beaten as Jack, she could only imagine how she looked after the fights and helping Jack. Was her hair scruffy? Did she have some injury she hadn't noticed because of the adrenaline? Like a hole in her back that everyone was inclined not to point out to save face? Did she look wild, nervous?

"Ann..."

Her thoughts of her appearance ceased and she looked down at the boy on her lap full of emotion. Fear, relief, joy, sadness and hope colored her features as her eyes opened wide.

"Jack," she whispered, feeling conflicted. Anna wanted to hear his voice, to tell her he was okay with that proud smirk of his, and, at the same time, she wanted him to rest so when he said those words they'd be true. She watched as he opened his eyes a crack, surprised at the warmth in his brown eyes, having expected those distant blue ones.

Leaning down she put an arm over him in an awkward hug to hide the stinging tears in her eyes.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine. We're going to get you fixed up. Don't worry," she said and as the words poured from her mouth she wondered who she was trying to reassure: him or herself?

"Anna," Jack said fully. "I can't..." She could feel him tense up from under her and she pulled back, afraid she had hurt him only to see it wasn't her hug that pained him; it was something inside of him. His eyes, now fully open, seemed unfocused. Any movement he tried to make was strained like he was somehow weighed down. "...think..." he finished.

"Ja-Jack!" she said in a frightened whisper. Should she call for Nick, having him pull over the van?

"What... happened to your... parents?" Jack whispered to a stunned Anna. Why would he ask that, of all things? And why now?

"Car crash," she explained simply. "Jack, what's going on?"

"No," he moaned and his eyes shut from a pain she could not see. "I... no..."

"Shhh. No, don't strain yourself," she told him, caressing his cheek and feeling every scratch, every blemish under her fingertips and leaned down over him, placing her lips on his. He visibly relaxed as if he was melting under her touch. "Rest."

**With Aster...**

On his motorcycle, he had managed to put some distance between himself and the van. He tried to clear his mind on the road. Rather quickly he realized that wasn't going to happen. Images of the sisters crawled from the recesses of his head and distracted him.

Anna. Oh, Anna and Tina, those two were worth any trouble in the world. As clear as he remembered today, he remembered the day he met the hacker. It was supposed to be a simple job: he would go into the bank at midday, she would disable anything he needed as he went along and all of them would be rich: himself, Anna and the group she was a part of - The Nightmares, they liked to call their little bravado. The planning of the project took weeks to organize; surveying the bank, looking into the histories of the workers, making a blueprint of its grounds. He couldn't tell when he had fallen in love during that time with her, only that he did. And when that happened, it was like a layer of film was taken off the world and he saw her clearly.

What he saw he did not like.

The way her eyes lingered or flickered constantly towards her sister whenever the whole group was together. How she would try to argue with the plan but held herself back. The looks she gave the group when she thought no one was looking. It all pointed to one thing: she was miserable in the position she was in.

Aster had wasted no time trying to make her happy. Within a day, he had convinced her to leave with him, to take her and her sister somewhere safe. The energy she had in her eyes, in her step, in her words made every moment of the hours he spent working to keep their trail nonexistent and losing many of his contacts due to the abandonment to the project worth it.

Anna loved Tina above anything and it was one of the things about her he admired the most. But it was also the reason his admiration for her was kept to himself. Aster knew the small woman would never feel the same way towards him but he still wanted to be in her life, protecting her any way he could. Of course, he knew she could protect herself, but she would give up herself, even her life, for Tina and he didn't want things to ever come to that.

He swerved on the road, having been lost in thought and drifting in an out of two lanes on the freeway, only woken up by the sound of a long horn from the car behind him. Gripping tighter onto the handles, he tried to concentrate at the task at hand: clearing out his place before the rest of the Guardians arrived.

He had taken the lead because it was more of a necessity than they realized, but he'd rather they'd not know. His place - well "his" - tended to be used by the same contacts he lost when he went rouge, so to say. It was a middle ground for ransoms, a place of hiding, whatever you could think of, that's what this place was. He wouldn't have thought he'd ever return to it this soon, but in Jack's state they needed him somewhere he could recover safely. To keep hidden from Pitch, the cops, anyone that wished them harm, that place would be the best to camp out at.

At his request, Nick hadn't told Anna of Jack's entire condition to save her the stress and anxiety but that rouse would only work for so long. He had to work fast.

A half-hour's ride was how long it took him to get there, threading his way through any traffic he encountered, usually at 70 miles per hour, but the result was the same: he was there and he had time.

Kicking the bike's stand down, he pulled out his hand gun from the storage under the seat before slipping in to the bunker-like place through the front door. The people he used to work with were the kind who expected unwanted visitors. Entering anywhere else other than the front door, oddly enough, was a death wish.

With his gun held out, ready at his disposal, he swept the area only to find it was devoid of anyone. It looked recently used. A few days ago at the least, maybe a week at the most. Dropping his guard, he sighed. Even if there wasn't anyone here, he could at least clean up.

Cigarettes littered the floor, beer cans and food left on the counters to stink the place up, explicit magazines covered the beds. With a glance at the clock that hung over the couch he figured he had about an hour, maybe less, to clean the place up. Thankfully, the people that came through were smart enough to keep it stocked, even if they were pigs. With a garbage bag at his disposal, he set off to do his job.

It was disgusting work, but by the time he was done it felt rather nice to look at the place and he took a seat on the couch. With a pleased sigh, he closed his eyes. What was wrong with a little relaxing?

Images flashed behind his closed eyes of Jack bleeding out, Anna covered in his blood and asking for help and he jumped up. No, not until they were okay would he relax. "Oi," Aster said softly to himself as he squinted at the couch, a paper hanging out from under the cushion.

He pulled it out carefully from the furniture and held it up before him to read.

"Oh, this cannot be good."

**Later, with Anna...**

"Anna," Tina said with a yawn as she rested her head on her pillow. "Is Jack going to be okay?"

Anna nodded, wet hair falling over her eyes. She reached out and took her hand into hers. "Jack is going to be just fine."

"How do you know?" Tina asked with a huff, taking back her hand. She's growing up; the older sister couldn't help but think.

"Because Aster said so." The small girl smiled tiredly and closed her eyes.

Anna lingered by her bedside for a few moments longer after her sister had soundly fallen asleep before picking up herself to make her way out of the bedroom and head towards the kitchen. Her skin prickled after the harsh cleaning she had given herself in the kitchen with rags, water and soap, the bathroom completely occupied by Jack and Nick where the Russian man planned to help the young sniper without making a mess that wouldn't be too hard to clean.

The living room that connected to the kitchen held Aster who lay back restlessly on the couch, that deep inlaid scowl creasing his forehead once more.

"You look troubled," the woman plainly observed as she took a seat in the armchair across from the couch. It looked like the type that could lay back but something in its mechanism was jamming it so she stretched a little and tried her best to make herself comfortable.

"There are other bedrooms, Anna," Aster grumbled, closing his eyes though his frowny face didn't lighten.

"Can't sleep."

"You should at least try," he told her as he shifted himself on the couch to roll onto his side, facing her with his eyes open a crack.

"I'll rephrase: I don't want to sleep. Not until I hear from Nick that he's going to be fine," she stated, leaving little room for argument. He just looked away from her, like he was too tired to argue; good, because that's exactly how she felt. "Something troubling you?" she decided to bring up again.

"Can't I be just as concerned for Jack?" he asked but it didn't sound serious enough to believe him.

"You can't," Anna said, figuring it might be taken wrong but didn't have it in her to elaborate why. She doubted anyone else could even comprehend how scared she was for Jack's wellbeing.

"I'll tell you in the morning," Aster said reluctantly after a lengthy silence and he shifted on the couch once more. Deciding that was as much as she was getting out of him, she let the subject drop and, without realizing it, fell asleep to be woken up by a pleasant voice.

"I hear I have you to thank for my rescue."

Anna almost jumped out of her seat - also noticing a blanket on her that had not been there when she had fallen asleep - at the sound of the voice.

"Jack?" she asked, her eyes wide and hopeful.

"Expecting someone else?" he jokingly asked and she offered him a smile and only that. He was kneeling beside the chair, his arms and head rested on the armrest be musingly. "I woke up a while ago, but you were sound asleep. Aster told me not to bother you."

"And you did anyways."

"Exactly," Jack said with a smirk. _His_ smirk, she thought to herself warmly. It belonged only to him. "How are you? Did you get hurt?"

"No. A little sore, but otherwise fine," she said reassuringly and he let out a sigh.

"Nick said you wouldn't leave my side from the moment you found me," he told her. "That wouldn't happen to be true, would it?"

Anna felt herself froze, unsure of what to say. Yes, she hadn't left his side; she had been too afraid he might be lost to her once more, but did he not remember her being there when he first woke up?

"It's true."

He smiled. Not a smirk, but a warm and thankful smile that was worth much more than any words of thanks but her eyes remained on his lips, her own feeling fuzzy at the memory of them in the van.

"How's your head?" she asked softly, raising her hand to touch the skin near the broken area.

"Hurts, but that's to be expected. One too many blows, eh?"

"Thankfully, it's not like you have to worry about brain cells," she heard Aster say and she swiftly turned around to see him in the kitchen pouring himself a coffee. Apparently the look on their faces deemed he needed to explain so he said: "'Cuz you didn't have any to begin with," with a smug look. Jack looked bemused. However, Anna was not.

"He was hurt and you're making jokes about it?" she half yelled, standing up from her seat, almost tumbling forward from the loss of feeling in her legs from having slept in a chair.

Aster looked more shocked at her exclamation than the meaning her words possessed, accidently pouring the coffee outside of the cup.

"Sorry, sheila," he mumbled, casting his eyes away and worked to clean the mess on the counters and floor.

Anna held a hand to her head, finding herself more tired than she had thought and began to wonder how long she had slept before Jack had woken her.

"Anna," Jack said, standing up and resting a hand on her shoulder to which she yelped and pulled herself away. From the corner of her eye, she could see Aster glaring at Jack. "Anna, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to... oh."

She had pulled down the collar of her shirt to check her shoulder, the same shoulder Aster had touched the other day. She hadn't given it much thought because her mind was filled with worry for Jack. Under the fabric of her shirt was the blackening of her skin. How had she not seen that before? Or felt it?

"Shock," said the thickly accented voice of Nick who had moved into the kitchen, taking Aster's cup of coffee and drinking a generous portion of it, ignoring the looks the man gave him as he did so.

"Huh?" she lamely asked, tenderly holding the area.

"Shock," he said once more, like it explained everything. "Adrenaline. Whatever you call it. You were too focused on other things to notice it. By time we arrived here, you were probably too tired to notice."

"Nick, just because you know enough basic stuff to stitch Jack up," Aster said with a roll of his eyes, "doesn't make you a doctor." He probably would have said more if it hadn't been for Sanders - who had entered the room so silently she doubted anyone noticed him there before Aster had - glaring at him, using no words to silence the man from his hurtful remarks.

"Hey. I said probably," Nick said with a shrug, taking another drink of the stolen coffee.

"I'll go grab some pain killers for you, Anna," Jack hastily said.

"There's some in the van," Aster offered and Jack hurriedly went off to find them.

"Aster, we don't keep any-"

"I just needed him away for a moment," he told the Guardians who all looked at him, equally confused as the other. Even Sanders looked surprised by the way it was written on his face. "I found this earlier this morning," he said, digging into his pants pocket to pull out a crumpled piece of paper.

"A piece of paper. Good work, Bunny," Nick said with a hearty laugh.

"What's _on_ the paper," Aster snapped. He flipped it around so they could see but, from where she was, she couldn't make out what it said. "There were, eh, people 'ere before us. A day or so ago." He looked over at Anna, locking eyes with her and in the core of her being she knew she didn't want to hear what he was going to say. "I'm sorry, Anna. It seems to be an email exchange between Pitch and the Nightmares."

A lump grew in her throat and, despite her desire to, forced herself not to cry from sheer anxiety. "W-what about it?"

"Pitch's last email to them-" He cut himself off but she didn't think on why, her mind was on one track now: what on Earth were Pitch and the Nightmares doing together?

Right then, the answer hit her. Pitch was contacting those that already had it out for them. The Nightmares already wanted her and Aster, even Tina. Still, they usually were able to evade any attacks through her contacts, but those had been all scattered and they couldn't risk it to try and help more.

"He said something about being able to get to you, Anna," he said softly. "I don't know what to make of it yet-"

"You couldn't've told us with Jack in room?" Nick asked, voicing the same thoughts that ran through her head.

"He's the newest. He's young. And _I _don't trust him enough to let him on to this," Aster grumbled and those words light a fire in her purple eyes.

"_You_ don't trust him?" she asked, her voice calm but the words somehow carried a weight with them that made the man cringe. "After everything he's done to help us?" Her eyes trained themselves on the paper. "And you don't think it's convenient we oh so happen to find this here? Directly relating to us? In your home, Aster?"

All he could do was shake his head and shoved the paper back into his pocket before walking out and - not a moment too soon - passed Jack without so much as a glance in his direction as he left.

"Did I miss something?" Jack cautiously asked, holding in his hand a bottle of pills to her as he crossed the room.

"No," she said, feeling more tired than how she woke up. "Nothing important."

* * *

**I've been trying to be consistent with updates, but I just finished finals and it wasn't too much of a difference (but I don't want to fall into bad habits). Like I've said before, reviews - even simple ones - really motivate me to do better and figure out ways to make this a good fanfiction for you guys to read. Once more, I'd like to thank kingholly tumblr for being my reviewer and remind people that my tumblr is gingervora and if you want updates on the fic, just look up my tag "ginger writes". I also track the tag "dark dwellings" in case anyone wants to get my attention on the matter.**

**Thanks for being a wonderful crowd. I can't wait to hear your thoughts on this chapter! xoxo**


	6. Ignorance

Jack watched Anna from the kitchen. Aster had stormed past him when he came back from the van and into the office down the hall and the room was filled with this heavy presence that hung over the Guardians as the man left. Anna stood outside the room, her hand raised but only hovering over the door. Jack wanted to know what had happened, to ask anyone why it seemed Aster had a falling out with everyone yet it didn't seem right to. Not right then, at least.

He was seated in the chair Anna had woken from earlier that day, the blanket bundled together and held under his arm. All he wanted to do was get up and give Anna some more rest; she looked as tired as one possibly could. The beginnings of bags formed under her eyes and the tips of her fingers bled where she had bitten down her nails. He would have thought Anna to be the type to handle stress really well; was this a type of stress she couldn't handle or a level of stress she had never met before.

Tina, of course, had woken up not long after Jack returned from fetching the pain relievers. She said something about hearing loud voices and he could only guess that the falling out he thought Aster had with everyone was a little more than a "falling out". Not only that but as she carefully watched Anna, he realized how strong the bond those three had, Aster, Anna and Tina. He still wasn't so sure what kind of bond they had but it was strong. Whatever was stressing Anna out had to be something bad.

"Your hands are cold," Tina commented and Jack looked down to see the small girl holding his hand. She felt really warm.

"Well, I lost a lot of blood," he suggested. It had been a while since Nick had fixed him up and he had eaten a little to help recover the blood but he doubted it would take a short while to feel ship-shape again. He still felt weak like his arms were noodles and his legs were made of jello.

Tina reached up and her finger hovered over one of the many bandages on his head to point to them. "Do those still hurt?" she asked.

"Yeah," he replied distantly, his eyes fixed back on Anna. All he could think was while he hurt phsyically very much, how much was Anna suffering. He moved himself forward and up, swinging around and picking up Tina and dropping her on his spot. "Uppsy-daisy," he said as he did so and the girl giggled. She was so happy, so carefree. Leaning over, he kissed her forehead and wished she would stay that way forever.

Though it was a physical chore to do so, he dragged himself towards Anna and rested his hand on her shoulder, making sure to avoid the bad one. He expected her to twist around but she remained still instead, her hand still raised above the door waiting to knock.

"Anna," he said, his voice sounding awkward and throaty, causing him to cough into his other hand to clear his throat. "What's wrong?"

She made no attempt to move but he felt her tense up under his touch. "Sorry," she whispered, barely loud enough for him to hear, "but I can't do this right now. Just... just leave me alone for right now."

Jack's head hung lightly, disappointed that she wouldn't confide to him and he couldn't understand why she wanted to be alone. Being alone as horrible. He had forced himself to remain alone for his sake and the sake of others. Now that he didn't have to be alone, he didn't want to be by himself any more.

"She gets like that sometimes," he heard Tina's voice as he retraced his steps. When their eyes met, he noticed how tired she looked, how concerned. Concern for me, he wondered, or for Anna? She exceeded the maturity someone her age should have and had been in situations that never should have happened to her, but the same could be said about him. He began to contemplate if there was some cosmic force in the universe trying to make them miserable and if they had any real choice in what happened in their lives, as if everything was mapped out and planned ahead of time.

He scooted in next to her in the seat and she rested her head on his shoulder. The boy wrapped an arm around her, giving her a comforting squeeze. "Jack?"

"Hm?"

"How did you feel back then?"

"Back... when?"

"Pitch had you, right? Back at that place?" she asked, curling up close to him again. "How did you feel?"

Jack thought back to his memory of a text message, the first contact between him and the Guardians. They had contacted him because of this little girl and now look at where they were. She had been kidnapped, just as he had even though he had come out of it a little worse for wear.

"Scared," he admitted. "I was really frightened and some times it felt like my stomach was going to implode. At the same time, I was calm, trying to figure out what to do but I was so disoriented that I couldn't do anything, not even after Anna saved my sorry hide." Tina giggled nervously next to him. "You?" he reluctantly asked, afraid he might bring up any bad memories for her.

The girl rubbed her head against his arm, holding on tighter. "I was scared too. Whenever I thought of Pitch, I thought he was the type to tie me up, laugh sinisterly while petting a cat and telling me his evil plans." Too much TV, huh? he thought to himself with a faint smile. "But he was kind... sort of. He fed me, gave me a warm place to sleep and left me mostly alone so I wasn't that scared as time went by.

"By the time Aster came, I was glad to go and Aster's always been there for me so I felt even safer as we left. But..." she trailed off. Did he hear trembling in her voice? "He told me bad things about everyone. Said that Anna hurt people and so did Aster. Sanders and Nick, too. Said horrible things."

Jack held his breath. "I see," he said, holding a hand to his chest. It felt so tight and it hurt. Pitch had done the same thing. 'An offer' Pitch had said. Jack had almost forgotten about it after all the events that had happened. Pitch's offer was disgusting; to spy on them. When he had said no, Pitch went off to tell him everything he knew about the Guardians, every dirty little secret. His answer was still no and the man wasn't in the mood to hear that. The next thing he remembered after that was a flash of pain and wondering if any of what Pitch had said was true. He had a dream where he asked Anna how her parents died; Pitch had said she killed them. Dream Anna said it was a car crash and while it had been a dream, it did give him some security to do away with the seeds of doubt in him. He wished it hadn't been a dream, though, because in it she had also kissed him.

Tina squirmed away and told him she was going to take a nap. "Sleep well, Baby Tooth."

"I'm not a baby," she firmly said, stopping before she left the room.

"Fine," Jack said, forcing a smirk, "sleep well, Perfectly-Grown-Up Tooth." A grin spread across her face and left without another word. He closed his eyes half way when a pressure was felt on his shoulder. "Sanders?" he said, reopening his eyes. Though the blonde man looked a bit blurry with his tired eyes.

A reassuring grip from the man only confirmed it. "Man, I wish I had more time to time to talk to you. Things, recently, haven't been very open, huh?" Jack asked with a humorous grin and the Sanders replied with a nod. "But we had some great time before, remember? I like how you are. Whenever you were with me, you never minded being silent when you had to be because of, well, what I do. I really enjoyed the company."

Sanders took back his hand and moved to the couch to sit down, letting out a long and silent sigh.

"I understand that, Sanders," Jack said, nodding his head. "Day has barely started and I feel like need to sleep again. Maybe all day." Sanders smiled but offered nothing else and that, Jack was thankful for. "What about Aster? Something just seems off. I don't really get it. Do you?" He looked over at the con man but he did not return the sight, Sander's head now fixed on the office door.

Maybe everyone was just as worried about this as Anna was, and he was just the outsider that couldn't understand such a bond. Jack took no offense by it as he knew he couldn't understand such a bond. The closest he came to that was his sister but she was no longer with him and all because... because...

The blood in his viens burned with hatred for Hans Pitch. _He_ was the one that took Emma away from him. _He_ had been fine with letting a kid like him take the blame for it, trying to say he'd kill his own sister. And then had the gall to ask for his assistance on taking down the Guardians. No, that was something he could not do.

"Yo, I'm going to go to sleep for now," Jack said, sitting up and stretching his arms and legs. "G'night, Sanders. Nice talking with you." Sanders replied by snapping his fingers together and pointing at him with his fingers shaped like a gun. "Right back at you, Sandman," Jack replied with a tired smile, already able to imagine the warmth and comfort of a bed.

**Later...**

Jack woke to the sound of bullets.

For a moment, all he wanted to do was spring out of bed and go to help anyway he could, but he tripped on his blanket, falling to the floor. That alone was enough time to give him a moment of pause and rethink his actions. He had to figure out what was going on first before running into the fray.

He listened carefully and heard the sounds of guns being fired and hitting were near. Either it was a close battle or... someone outside was firing.

Quickly, he dressed himself and reached for his rifle only to remember he had left it in the van. "Damn it," he cursed softly before scanning the room for a temporary weapon. "I guess this'll do," Jack said with a tired sigh, picking up the alarm clock in his hands. A rather lame weapon but it could leave a bad mark on someone's head if he had the element of surprise on his side.

He opened the door of his room just a crack to scan the hallways, but no one was there. At least not on that side, he guessed. Pushing the door open a little bit more a scream reached his ears. Jack instantly knew who it belonged to: Tina. Throwing open the door and his 'weapon' brandished in his hands, he sprinted out of his room.

But there was no time to attack, no time to look for any sign of a struggle or the source of the bullets because what he heard next was her giggle. What...? He pressed his back to the wall and moved along it until he reached the opening that connected to the living room.

Again the bullets sounded throughout the air and Jack tensed up. Now or never, he decided, jumping into the entry way, the alarm clock held up and ready to throw.

"Jack?"

Jack blinked at the scene before him, trying to take it all in with his tired eyes: Aster - looking momentarily confused before returning to a scowl of discontent - on the couch with Tina, each of them holding a game controller.

"I... just - I assumed from the noise that..." the brown haired boy sputtered, feeling the heat in his face.

"Awww," Tina whined looking quite upset though her gaze was still locked on the TV screen before them. "I lost again?"

"Eh, you lil' bugger. Why don' you head off to bed?" Aster said - and to Jack's surprise, quite kindly and caring - to Tina, patting her on the back. "You said you'd go to bed after one last game." Tina looked up at him with her big eyes before reluctantly getting off the couch.

"Bed?" Jack questioned once Tina had left the room.

"Yeah, it's nearin' night time," Aster said. "You slept all day. _I_ wanted to wake you up earlier but Anna told me you were best off gettin' some rest."

"Uh, where _is_ Anna, by the way?" Jack asked, his head twisting around trying to find the woman.

"Asleep. While you were off - dreaming of ponies or whatever - every'ne were working. Take the night watch with Sanders," Aster huffed as he walked past the boy, once more purposefully bumping into him. Before he could leave, Jack caught his sleeve and the Australian looked down at the boy bewilders, as if Jack _dared_ to touch him.

"I don't know what's your deal with me," Jack said firmly, "but get over it. We're in this together. You may not like me and I really don't care. All I care is that you stop going about like this because Anna was really worried about... I don't know what she was worried about. Don't add to her problems."

The man snapped back his arm and then picked up Jack by his collar. If Jack didn't know any better, he would've thought his head was going to explode by the way he looked at him.

"_Me_ add to Anna's problems?" he growled. His mouth opened once more, most likely a long lecture on the tip of his tongue but it never was voiced. Slowly, he set him back down and gave him an angry and tired look. "You don't know anything, do you?" A long pause was held between them. "No, I suppose not. Go, you'll find Sanders outside."

Finally, the man walked off and it left Jack back to his lonesome, standing in the middle of the living room with an alarm clock in his hands. "What was that about?" Jack said with a frustrated pout, setting down the clock so he could stuff his hands into his pockets.

Relcutantly following Aster's orders, he made his way up the stairs and opened the front door. "Sanders?" he whispered loudly, unsure what else to do. He couldn't see the small blond man anywhere.

A bit of sand fell from above him and landed in Jack's hair. "There you are," Jack said with a grin, looking up at the flat roof where Sanders laid flat with Jack's sniper rifle already set up for him. The boy ran off to find a way up (a ladder that laid against the side of the building) and scooted next to the man. "Sweet! You set this up for me?" he asked. It was like a gift. His rifle always had to be disassembled to move properly so setting it up again was a pain. Had Sanders learned how to set it up by simply watching him those times he accompanied him scouting out areas?

Sanders nodded and moved a bit to the side, letting Jack have a bit more room as he peaked through the scope. Yeah, it was set up great.

"Thanks man," Jack said, punching the guy lightly in the arm who only offered a smile and picked up his binoculars. "Yeah, I bet this is going to be a long night, too."

**Later, with Anna... **

The woman laid in bed, her eyes locked on the plain ceiling, Tina cuddling next to her under the covers. Her mind still raced with thoughts, questions and concerns, thinking of Jack, Aster, Tina, the Nightmares, Pitch. Just everything decided that it wanted to be her number one priority and she couldn't keep track of it all.

Anna slipped out of the bed quietly, careful not to distrub Tina too much and tucked her in. She made her way to the kitchen, the dull ache in her shoulder coming back so she reached for the asprin Jack had brought her from the van. She had thought they didn't keep medicine in the van but she didn't keep track of it's inventory all the time when she had other matters to keep track of.

Heavy footsteps came behind her and she nearly jumped, some water spilling from a glass she filled to take the medicine with. "Oh, Nick," she said with a sigh upon seeing the tall man sporting a bright red footy pajamas.

"Oh! I thought you were sleeping," he said, that hearty Russian accent somehow comforting after the day's troubles. Despite her desires to talk to Aster, she couldn't build up the courage to do so. After Jack had gone to sleep, the rest of them worked on learning about the Nightmare's whereabouts. Even Tina pitched in by making food, though Anna figured it was more of an attempt to avoid the workbooks that took the place of her schooling.

"I was," she said with a weary look. "Couldn't stay that way. There's just too much to think about." A pause. "Why are you up?"

"Ah, too many candy cane dreams. Made me hungry," he said simply with a shrug of his shoulder, pulling open the door to the refridgerator and taking out bread, cheese and deli meat.

Anna smiled, glad to see that some things didn't change.

**With Aster...**

After talking to Jack, Aster had been furious. He couldn't sit still because every moment he allowed his thoughts to wander, he ended up back on the topic of Jack. How could Anna trust him so much? There had to be something he wasn't telling them. There had to be something that would... that would... No, he didn't know why he was so desperate to find something in Jack to exploit other than the safety of the others.

He had decided to get on his motorcycle for there wasn't much else to do. As for a desitination, the convience store seemed as good as any. A thirty minute's drive at night without the traffic of other cars, but he arrived there in one piece so things were looking good.

Aster picked up some general items: bread, milk, soda, beer, candy, chips as well as a pack of cigarettes. Anna never let him with Tina around, nor would he want to introduce the bad habit to the little'un but with him always working his hardest to make sure they were safe and sound it was nice to relax a little.

He stored away the items in the compartment under his seat, aside from the cigarettees stashed in his pocket and one lit and in his hand.

"Hey, you don't think it was something serious?" he overheard a couple say as they got out of their car. "I mean, is there a reason to carry around so many guns?"

"Maybe they were military or something," the other of the couple offered, a woman.

"No, they didn't look military-"

Aster had hopped up and ran to the couple, fear bright in his eyes. "You- uh, well... did you see which way they were going?" he frantically asked.

"Not really, they took an exit off the road a few exits back," the woman said, a redhead he couldn't help but notice, scanning Aster over. He must've been quite the sight, looking so panicked.

Aster ran back to his motorcycle without another moment's thought. If the woman's information was correct, Anna and Tina's saftey... he had left them in the hands of that incompetent Jack! Sure, Sanders and Nick were there but what if Jack was a mole? What if he betrayed them? He shouldn't have left. It was such a stupid thing to do.

**With Jack...**

"Man, Sanders," Jack said sarcastically, though quite happily, "we have to stay silent for this kind of thing." Sanders merely smiled, shrugged and looked through his binoculars. Seriously, if Jack had known Sanders knew so much about sleep he would've asked sooner. The man knew everything about it.

Jack shook his head lightly, feeling his hair shift and the cool night's air tickling his neck. Tonight almost felt... nice. Peaceful.

Sanders poked him in the arm and then pointed out ahead of them. He lowered his head to look through the scope. Two jeeps were coming their way and they didn't look very friendly. Especially with the guns mounted on the top of the vehicles and the symbol of Pitch's company logo pastered on the side of them. There was only one reason they'd be coming this way.

Sanders pulled at his hoodie's sleeve, causing him to accidently move his rifle out of position.

"Sanders, we can take them out easily. Shoot the tires and take them out while they try to fix it, we don't need to wake the others," Jack said, shrugging off his friend to realine his weapon. Sanders huffed and looked through his binoculars, looking ridgid and reluctant.

Jack aimed as carefully as he could, trying to account for all the variables: wind, speed of the cars, speed of the bullet and so on. Finally his finger pulled the trigger, firing at the leading car's tire. If he had to guess, the cars were still a half a mile away, but it gave them the time they needed.

He reloaded his sniper rifle and looked out his scope once more. Both the jeeps had stopped with only a few men coming out to look at the damage. Jack wanted to pop the tire of the other car for good mesure but the element of surprise would be lost if they knew someone was firing upon them and not simply just dealing with a popped tire.

Sanders nudged at him again but Jack shrugged him off once more. If only he could take more than one of them out with the same bullet but that would need a dose of good luck, something he was lacking on. His finger twitched over the trigger as he aimed carefully and almost pulled it when Sanders nudged him for the third time.

"They won't just leave us alone and they'll know we're here if they leave. We need to take them out," Jack explained frustrated, not even bothering to look up. He took his time - every shot needed to be carefully aimed and well placed- and then the boy pulled the trigger watching it rip through the chest of one man and cut through the arm of another. That was luckier than I deserve, he thought to himself as one man fell to the ground lifeless. The other man's screams were faint but in the silence it was as painful as fingernails against a chalkboard.

As Jack reached for his next bullet he noticed the cold on one side of him: Sanders had moved off and he barely caught a glimpse of the small man climbing down the ladder.

Fine. Whatever. This was Jack's job, this was his specialty whether he or anyone liked it or not and it was the only way he could protect these people he cared about. He was not about to lose them and be left alone once more.

Another bullet loaded and he shot it at a third man after another period of time to wait and plan. The man fell down, clutching his chest. The last man remained and Jack - finding his luck had run out - was out of bullets. How many more were in those cars? How long would it take for those remaining to fix the cars and take them out? If there were others in the car, why weren't they coming out to help the others?

He bit his bottom lip and winced, noticing his scowl was tugging at one of the stitches on his head. "Ouch," he whispered, taking out the ear plugs that kept the loud gunshot from damaging his ears. An eerie quite filled the space and sent a chill down his spine.

No, everyone was asleep. That's why Sanders left. He was sleepy, Jack thought trying to console himself. He wouldn't let himself give in to fear. Jack slipped down the ladder and carefully moved around to get inside. It was faint but the sound of bullets once again filled the air.

Aster or Nick are playing the video games, Jack decided. That's it. Tiptoeing his way down the stairs to the bunker-like home, he tried to calm himself down but nothing he saw helped with that. Even if everyone was asleep, he would hear Nick snoring loudly or the coffee maker going so they had some for the morning.

He kept his back to the wall and moved slowly. Should he go back for his gun? No, a sniper rilfe wouldn't do much good here. Besides, he was out of ammo.

The hallway struck fear into Jack's heart: blood pooled from the doorway of the kitchen. He rushed ahead only to see something he could've never imagined: Pitch standing above a body. A small, blond, lifeless body.

"Such a shame," Pitch said, sounding actually disappointed. "That girl just rushed off at the sight of me. I didn't mean to shoot poor Sanders, but he moved in my way." He reloaded his gun. "I suppose I didn't have to shoot him six times, but one can never be to careful."

Jack could only stand there, frozen and dumbstruck.

"Oh, where did that other one go off to? The one in all red?" Pitch mused. "Oh, and thank you, dear Jack."

"W-what?" he stuttered, trying to move his legs to back up but they wouldn't obey them.

"Right, you didn't accept my proposal, but you helped me anyways," Pitch recalled, lifting the gun and pointing it at him. A silencer was clipped at the end of the weapon. "We traced the van while everyone was _so_ concerned in saving you. They never saw me coming. What? You don't think I'd do it? No, those Nightmares are good but I... I am better.

"Sanders probably saw me coming. Ah, he always was such a clever one to suspect me to sneak in from the back. You really aren't in such a defendable position, you know," he said, lowering his gun slightly as if he couldn't be bothered to threaten Jack.

"Oh, breaking your team up was so simple. I let Aster find out the Nightmares are working for me, I knew it would distrub him. I sent those cars your way. You're the only one who could take them out from such a distance. I took away the Guardian's two best defenders."

"Why are you telling me this?" Jack asked, sure his fear was heard in his voice as Pitch smiled at the sight of him.

"Because I hold all the cards. You can't take me. No one here can and you know it, don't you, Jack?" he slyly asked.

A million questions hung on the tip of his tongue but none were voiced by the boy. Once more he was that frightened teen in the court, accused of murder without any defense, with the court swaying towards deeming him guilty and the fear in him took root, paralyzing him.

"Ah, nothing more to ask, Jack? Very well." Pitch pointed the gun at Jack. "Goodbye-"

The black clad man fell to the floor, wearing a face of surprise as a figure knocked him to the ground.

"Jack," Aster said, standing above Pitch. "Get the others. We need to leave. Now."

* * *

**Eep, I apologize for this one being late (ish, you know, compared to my previous updates). Can't wait to hear your feedback and, don't worry, I'm already working on chapter 7!**


	7. Perseverance

**With Aster...**

His travel back to the hideout seemed to go on forever, like those dreams where you run and run but never reach the door at the end of the hallway. The Nightmares were on their way to get Anna and Tina, he knew it, and he doubted they cared what happened to any of the others.

"Fuck!" the man cursed as he struggled to keep his motorcycle right side up with the tight turns of the rough road at the speed he was going. He could see the house perfectly; it looked fine but he knew better than to judge on the looks of things. But just as he could see the house just fine, he could see a pair of cars pulled over in the open area. "What?" Aster mummbled to himself, reluctantly slowing down. These had to be the cars that the woman at the convenience store had been talking about, so why where they just sitting there?

He kicked his bike stand down as he jumped off his vehicle, rushing on foot to the scene. It looked quiet, too quiet, but he couldn't afford to reach for his gun. He could only afford to check it out. Any resistance he might meet would have to be met by hand to hand combat.

"Hm!" he grunted as the Earth rose to meet him, his foot caught on something. "What the..." Aster whispered as he looked over at what he tripped on: a body. His body flailed as he struggled to get up, but his eyes took in the rest of the scene, scanning the cars and area from where he laid.

Several dead bodies, popped tires, weapons half loaded scattered on the ground. Aster wasn't about to push his luck but something here was off. Sure he had left Sandy and Jack in charge of protecting the safe house but this...? No, he doubted those two could do something like this by themselves.

"We haven't..." - static filled the silence - "...we're preparing for... attack. Attack in... -en minutes unless... Pitch gives... word."

Crap, the graying man thought to himself as he ran back to his bike and started it up. He had no time to lose.

**Later, with Jack...**

Following Aster's orders, despite the fact going along with anything that man said made him feel uneasy, he ran to collect Nick since Aster had already sped off to swoop in and save the day for the girls. Thankfully for Jack, it wasn't too hard to find the big man. He had been in the bathroom, one hand still gripping onto his midnight snack and in the other was a gun half loaded. It looked like Pitch had surprised him before he could do much to counter it.

"Nick," Jack said, kneeling next to the jolly thief and shook his shoulder. "Nick we need to get out of here." Nick responded only by grunting and rolling over, like he was dreaming! "Nick!" Jack yelled this time.

"Hm?!" the older man shot straight up, dropping his gun and holding his sandwich like he was ready to shoot someone with it. If it was any other time, Jack would've laughed.

"Nick," Jack said once more, "we need to get out of here. Pitch..." His mind flashed back to Sandy. "Pitch managed to find us. Can you drive?"

"'Course I can!" Nick dropped his sandwich on the ground and Jack handed a now fully loaded gun to him.

"Good. I'll help Aster with Anna and Tina," Jack said with a relieved sigh. Jack knew squat about how to drive and knew that there was little chance Aster would ever leave behind his beloved bike. As for Anna, he knew she'd rather be there for her younger sister if she could and he didn't want to get in the way of that. "Wait," he said, catching Nick's arm. "Pitch had the car bugged. Try to debug it before we go if you can."

Nick looked down at him (any other time, Jack might've been tempted to ask how the weather was up there, but again he knew it wasn't the time) with a look that said: Someone dared to bug MY sleigh?!

The two separated; Nick heading for the stairs to get to the car and Jack making his way towards the girls' room. What he saw, he did not like.

Anna was held in Aster's arms bridal style (no that wasn't the part he was upset by) and the room smelt like iron. Anna's arms were in her lap, holding on to her side and her face contorted in pain.

"Anna?" Jack whispered, taking a step closer. Aster's shirt was stained with blood as were Anna's hands but he didn't have time to see how bad she was hurt as Aster moved past him with the woman still in his arms.

"Take Tina!" Aster ordered in a way that Jack obeyed without thought. He moved for the girl - her multicolored eyes wide from fear and a few drops of blood staining her cheek mixed with her tears that ran down her face - and picked her up. She instantly wrapped her arms around his neck, holding tight.

"Is Anna going to be okay?" she asked with a wavering voice as Jack followed Aster to the van.

"She's going to be great; you'll see," Jack absently said, his mind swirling with so many thoughts it was almost overwhelming.

Nick sat up by himself in the front, leaving Aster, Jack and the girls crammed in the back with all of the woman's technical equipment.

"Jack, get me the emergency kit!"

Once again, Jack obeyed without question, moving swiftly to reach for the first aid kit underneath one of the floor panels.

"How bad is it-" he cut himself off as he swung back around, seeing Anna lying on the floor of the van.

He could see her chest rising and falling rapidly, her face drenched in sweat and her nails digging deep into her palms. "Jack-," she panted, cut off by a scream of pain. "J-Jack, take care of... Tina." With that, the woman calmed down and completely relaxed - no, she passed out.

Aster passive aggressively shoved him with his shoulder, knocking him back as he took care of Anna.

"Jack?" he heard Tina's soft voice asked. He turned to seeing the small girl crying.

"Shhh, Tina. Anna's going to be all right, you'll see," he said trying to manage a smile for her sake. Pulling down his sleeve over his hand, he began to wipe away her tears as well as clean her face of blood. "Aster... Aster's going to fix her right up, you'll see."

From the corner of Jack's eye, he notices the graying man momentarily hesitate before returning to the matter at hand.

**Later, at the hospital...**

"You're welcome to see her now," the nurse said to Jack who held Tina in his arms, even though she didn't bother to look up from her clip board. "She's not in critical condition anymore - thanks to whomever fixed her up before hand, but for her sake try to avoid any pressing subjects."

"S-Sure thing," Jack replied, his dry throat catching his words.

"And one more thing," the nurse added, "you must know we report all gunshot wounds to the police so be here for a statement, alright?"

"Right," he said, quickly turning to visit Anna. Tina's grip around his neck tightened as they entered the room but his throat was already so constricted he didn't even feel the difference.

"Tina!" Anna called weakly but happily and the child just about jumped from his arms to meet her sister. "Oof!" she grunted as Tina half jumped on the bed. A scary glance from the nurse across the hallway told him that was one of the things they shouldn't be doing but it didn't seem to put much stress on the older sister so, for now, it was alright.

"Hey there, Tina. Try to be a bit gentler," Jack suggested and Tina nodded in response. "How are you doing?"

"I'm feeling fine, all things considered," Anna said with a corner of her mouth pulled up in a half smile. "Jack, about what happened in the van -"

"It's alright, Anna," Jack said, his hands in his pockets and his head turned away. "I know you just wanted to make sure Tina would be alright j-just in case." She smiled and let the subject go.

"I'm going to need you to do a few things for me. I can't leave just yet and I can't really use my computer here - especially not on these pain meds - but I can write a few things down and how to do them and-"

"Anna, Anna," Jack said with a long laugh. "Anna, calm down. It's fine, I'll do anything you need me to do, but don't stress yourself out - nurse's orders."

"Fine," she said with a sleepy smile.

"Hey, bud, why don't you come with me? We'll use the internet at Starbucks and I'll buy you a muffin."

"But - but Anna?" Tina asked and the look she gave him almost convinced him to let her stay.

"No, go with Jack. I need my rest anyhow," Anna told her, causing Tina to back down.

"Just get better, okay?" Tina pouted.

"I promise."

**At Starbucks...**

Jack looked down at the notebook: "#18: _Send notice to all my contacts for information on the Nightmares._"

He sighed as he propped the notebook against his coffee cup. Tina sat across from him, sipping on a smoothie, swinging her legs back and forth in her chair as she waited. It seemed almost eerie how calm the little girl was, Jack noticed, taking a moment's pause from the work; to be used to the quite at such an early age when kids usually wanted to be doing everything. It just didn't seem right, somehow, for her to be so mature already.

"Huh?" she asked, noticing Jack. Then her face lit up like a Christmas tree. "Aster!" Tina exclaimed, hopping up from her seat and running past the brunette but he kept his eyes on his laptop, typing away. He knew Aster didn't want anything to do with him so he wouldn't bother him with his presence.

"Hey you little bugger," Jack heard Aster say, followed by Tina's tiny giggle. "I have some good news." It took Jack a moment to realize the man was actually talking to him.

"Hm?" he asked, not bothering to look up. Aster lightly, though not gently, pushed Jack's chair.

"I got some information," he said, taking Tina's seat though the girl climbed onto his lap as her new spot to sit. "Nick and I went askin' around our contacts. We managed to locate the Nightmares."

"So what's our plan?" Jack asked.

"Their base isn't too far from here. Half a day's drive, at the most. I'll give Anna the details-"

"No," Jack said, quickly standing up from his seat, closing the laptop as he did so. "No offense Aster but you two didn't end on the best terms and you really stressed her out. The nurse said not to stress her or anything like that."

"You little - Anna's known me the longest. That was just a spat and -"

"I said no, Aster," Jack said to push his point, hoping the man would at least understand why he was doing this. "Even if it was just a spat, we can't afford to stress her too much. I'll relay that things are going well and stuff."

The two men locked eyes for a moment. Jack wondered if the man's stubbornness would really get in the way of Anna's health. When Aster huffed and sat back in his spot, Tina still on his lap, Jack managed to relax in knowing the man wasn't an entire ass.

"Thanks," said Jack very plainly, scooping up his belongings before leaving.

**With Anna...**

Anna woke peacefully, enjoying being able to slowly wake up and on her own time. It seemed like a rare thing to sleep like that but perhaps it was something she needed rather than desired this time around. Usually she was so careful about fighting but, then again, it hadn't been much of a fight rather than a surprise attack from Pitch. It had been really unexpected for Pitch to do something himself.

"Jack?" she asked as her vision cleared, seeing the boy sitting in the chair next to her bed. "Did you talk to my contacts? What did they say about-"

"Didn't need to," Jack said calmly, slowly. "Nick and Aster pulled their own contacts and found out where their base is. They're going to plan the assault and we'll leave once we can get you out of here."

She let out a breath she hadn't realized she kept in and sunk back into the comfort of the bed. "You know we're going to have to leave before I'm one hundred percent better. The cops will come anytime they think I'm ready to question and we should get out of here before then. Do you think you could get everything ready? Help Nick pack the van-"

"Anna," Jack said with a laugh, leaning forward and holding her hand in his. "Anna, you don't have to plan out everything. We're not incompetent. Well, not completely," he said with a sly wink.

A long sigh escaped her lips. "Sure, fine, whatever. Let's see how you fare without my guidance." This time she didn't hear a witty retort or a laugh, only silence. "Jack?"

"Oh? Ha, yeah, I just got to thinking... I don't think I'll ever be able to go back to working without you," he said, ending it with an awkward laugh. "Being alone, all on my own was the worst, but I never realized how much I missed people until I joined up with you guys. Until... you asked me to work with you. I thought it was just going to be a job, I'd get paid and be on my way. Never could I have thought this could've happened."

"That what couldn't have happened?" Anna asked even though she half knew what he was talking about. She watched as he stood up and looked down at her. Slowly, he leaned down.

"That I..." He trailed off. Her heart thumped in her chest and she was suddenly conscious of her entire body: the IV in her hand, the bed sheets touching her skin that wasn't covered by her hospital gown, her breath, everything. "Tell me if I shouldn't," he told her and she could see the restraint he showed to keep himself back.

"I won't," she said and instantly she felt the press of his lips on hers. She felt lost in pure emotional bliss and forgot all her worries if only for one second. If it hadn't been for her wounds, she would've pulled him closer, kissed him deeper.

Jack leaned up and looked down into her eyes with a lovely look.

"I really should - uh, you know, get back to the others," Jack mumbled, his usually pale cheeks a bright red.

"Sure," she said, half closing her eyes. "I'll stay here and sleep and get better and stuff. But don't think I'll be taking anything slow, Jack. Once I'm out of here, I'm going to work my ass off, you hear?"

Jack smirked, leaning back up and tussling his hair with a hand. "Whatever you say, Toothy," he told her as he ruffled her hair, the rainbow strands falling this way and that. "See ya' later."

He turned on his heel, bumping into the nurse lightly as he walked on. "Sorry miss," he said with a grin that he just couldn't wipe off his face.

"Sir!" the male nurse said, holding up a file. "A man came by, said to give this to you, that he'd be heading off."

"A... man?" Jack repeated.

"As in not a woman, yes," the nurse sarcastically replied, rolling his eyes and pushing the file into Jack's hands before walking off. Jack reached out, grabbing the man's sleeve.

"Did he - was the man graying? Like, still in his thirties? Uh, kind of angry looking?"

"Sure."

"Well, shit," Jack cursed. And all he could think was, _Seriously, Aster? Seriously?_ "Thanks," he told the man before running off on his own. Nick was going to need to hear this.

* * *

**Hey everyone! One last chapter of Dark Dwellings left! I hope I've been able to provide some quality AU fanfiction and a decent distraction to your daily lives. Thanks everyone! **

**Updates on the last chapter will be tagged under "dark dwellings" and "ginger writes" on my tumblr .com.**


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